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35
magazine
More than
half (53%)
of office
workers
admit to
leaving
the office
during the
working day
to purchase a
hot drink
Grounds for optimism
The UK is no longer just a nation of
tea drinkers, with consumer demand
driving a 20-fold increase in the
number of coffee shops in the last
17 years, according to analysis from
CBRE. The coffee chain revolution has
had an impact in offices, too, creating
demand for more choice and higher
quality drinks. But have changing
tastes had a detrimental effect on the
environment?
In-house or take-out?
A recent survey by the Office Coffee
Company suggests that office workers
are increasingly heading to the high
street for their hot drinks. More than
half (53%) of office workers admit to
leaving the office during the working day
to purchase a hot drink (up from 40% in
the 2015 survey). Four out ten say they
are unable to have their preferred hot
drink at work.
In addition to time wasted away
from the office (see article opposite),
the use of High Street chains has an
environmental cost. In satisfying the
huge demand for take-away coffee,
major coffee shops hand out billions of
disposable coffee cups each year, very
few of which end up being recycled.
Carbon Clear, a provider of carbon and
energy management and sustainability
services, has examined the environmental
impact of paper, polystyrene and ceramic
cups through their lifetime, including
manufacture, use, re-use and disposal,
and concludes that ceramic cups are the
environmentally responsible choice – and
the better choice financially.
Making sure the office kitchen is
stocked with a choice of good quality
hot drinks and plenty of ceramic mugs
could encourage more employees to
make their coffee at work.
Bean vs. pod
Coffee-pod machines are increasingly
popular in the UK, but brewing coffee
using single use coffee pods or capsules is
environmentally problematic. The German
city of Hamburg has even gone so far as to
ban coffee pods from state-run buildings.
Honest Coffees, a company that
provides coffee machines and Fairtrade
coffee for offices, is a strong proponent
of using bean-to-cup machines rather
than single serve pod solutions, primarily
for reasons of sustainability.
In a series of blog posts, the company
highlights the environmental impact
of plastic and aluminium pods, which,
being made from a mix of materials,
aren’t easy to recycle and are piling
up in UK landfill sites. It points out
that bean-to-cup machines are just
as convenient as pods and, with no
capsule to insert and remove, just as
quick to use. It also argues that the taste
and quality of freshly ground coffee is
superior to that of coffee from a pod.
Honest Coffees managing director
and co-founder Wyatt Cavalier said: “The
best advice we can give is to ditch the
nespresso machines and go for a bean-
to-cup option. You can pick your own
(Fairtrade and organic) coffee; it’s easier
to use and clean; and it’s massively
better for the environment. Really, the
only thing pods have going for them is
George Clooney!”
Waste not want not
The Office Coffee Company is
encouraging businesses to go a step
further and start recycling waste coffee
grounds in the interests of corporate
social responsibility (CSR).
In its latest
how green is your
office
survey, over 65% of respondents
said their office ‘could do more’ to be
environmentally friendly. The research
found that recycling of food waste,
particularly coffee grounds, is low in
offices.
Bucking this trend, the Office Coffee
Tayla Ansell looks at three companies offering
sustainable choices for coffee drinkers.
Company recently launched a coffee
grounds recycling service for clients in
Greater London. The service is being
delivered in partnership with bio-bean,
an award-winning clean technology
company that has industrialised the
process of recycling waste coffee
grounds into advanced biofuels.
Arthur Kay, founder and CEO of bio-
bean, said: “I came up with the idea for
bio-bean whilst studying architecture
at The Bartlett, UCL. Set the task of
designing a coffee shop, I realised that
coffee was being wasted everywhere and
set out to address the problem.”
Today, the company works with coffee
shops, office blocks, transport hubs and
instant coffee factories, collecting their
waste coffee grounds and converting them
into useful biofuels that it then supplies
back to the producers of the waste.
In addition, bio-bean recently
launched a new product for the
general public. Coffee Logs are biomass
briquettes that can be used as a clean
and sustainable alternative to wood
and coal in appliances such as wood
burning ovens, stoves, BBQs, chinemeas
and open fires at home. Recently, the
company has been raising funds through
a crowdfunding campaign to help them
produce the briquettes on a larger scale.
There’s a lot to consider in making
your coffee habit greener – where the
coffee is from, how you make it, what
you drink it from, how you dispose of
waste. Encouraging sustainable and
ethical habits in the office, where a lot
of coffee is consumed, is a great place to
start making a difference.
Arthur Kay,
founder and CEO,
bio-bean
