I owe so much to coffee! To some extent, it has fuelled most of my professional career and has gotten me through tough social commitments. Regardless of how much I love coffee, and how much it means for my home country (Colombia, producer of the best coffee on the planet), I must recognize that coffee has multiple sustainability issues, both social and environmental. Here, I explore some.
There is a clear need for the industry to check sustainability issues out as a first step to exploring how circular economy models can help address them. Like any industry, coffee roasters and shops have their own unique environmental sustainability challenges. These challenges include waste management, energy consumption, and supply chains. This article will provide an overview of some of the coffee shops and roasters' current environmental sustainability challenges. As I do that, I want to eyeball how circularity (or circular economy models) may have a shot at solving those issues.
Waste Management:
One of the biggest environmental sustainability challenges facing coffee shops and roasters is waste management. Coffee shops generate a significant amount of waste, including coffee cups, lids, straws, and food packaging. In addition, coffee roasters generate waste in the form of coffee spent and coffee bag packaging. Coffee shops also generate a large amount of food waste, which contributes to the release of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere if not properly disposed of.
Most coffee cups and lids are made from plastic and are not biodegradable. This means that they will remain in the environment for hundreds of years, contributing to plastic pollution. The use of reusable cups and lids, either under subscription/service models like Sharewares, Reusables, and Reuser, or by encouraging users to bring their own cups are good ways of mitigating the creation of waste.
Sustainable solutions to coffee spent, or coffee grounds that have been used, have been explored over the last couple of decades. Some successful examples of this include food additives, fuel logs, compost, and mushroom media (DIY option). These types of solutions are promising once issues of the collection and distribution of materials are resolved. Some education efforts are required so coffee roasters correctly separate the coffee waste.
Energy Consumption:
Energy consumption is another environmental sustainability challenges facing coffee shops and coffee roasters. Coffee shops require a significant amount of energy to roast coffee beans. Currently, most coffee roasting machines use natural gas, which is a fossil fuel, just like coal and oil (but worse, yes, natural gas leads to more GHG emissions than coal, find more info here or google it). Luckily for us, companies like Bellwether make electric coffee roasters. To show their advantages over traditional roasters, they got James Hoffman (coffee Youtube star) to roast lots of coffee, off the grid, with a set of solar modules and a handful of batteries. Here, have fun.
Sourcing Sustainable Coffee Beans:
Sourcing sustainable coffee beans is another environmental sustainability challenge facing coffee shops and coffee roasters. Coffee is grown in many countries, and not all coffee farms practice sustainable farming methods. In addition, many coffee farms use pesticides and fertilizers, which can have a negative impact on the environment.
As the international institute for sustainable development reports,
"voluntary sustainability standard-compliant coffee production is increasing at a higher rate than the overall sector, with significant growth coming from least-developed countries." (report here).
It is important for coffee shops and coffee roasters to source coffee beans from sustainable farms, as this helps to ensure that the coffee industry is environmentally sustainable in the long term. By sourcing sustainable coffee beans, coffee shops and coffee roasters can help reduce their environmental impact and promote sustainable coffee farming practices.
To wrap up, coffee shops and coffee roasters play a vital role in the coffee industry, but they also face unique environmental sustainability challenges. These challenges include waste management, energy consumption, and sourcing sustainable coffee beans. To ensure that the coffee industry is sustainable in the long term, coffee shops and coffee roasters must take action to address these challenges. This includes implementing waste management programs, adopting energy-efficient practices, and sourcing sustainable coffee beans. By taking action, coffee shops and coffee roasters can help to ensure that the coffee industry is environmentally sustainable for generations to come.