abstract
Spent coffee ground, the residue obtained from the brewing process, is the primary unavoidable (inedible) waste from the coffee consumption. As coffee production and beverage consumption are increasing worldwide, a more sustainable waste management is required since the usual disposal in landfill is a liability to both humans and the environment. This paper is aimed at showing a possible alternative reuse of coffee ground wastes in novel green building materials intended for thermo-plastering applications in construction, in a circular economy context. Coffee waste was used in various percentages (up to 17.5%) to assess the engineering performance of the produced bio-composite mortars. The main results showed that just a little amount of coffee waste determines a bulk density decrease up to 15.4% (making the products comparable to a structural lightweight conglomerate or a light plastering mortar), an extensive drop in mechanical performance (still maintaining acceptable values for the considered plastering application) and in thermal conductivity (up to 47%). Moreover, a multi-criteria analysis, not only able to consider the materials performance, but also aspects related to the environmental impact and the economic drawback, has been implemented resulting that the preferable mix would contain 10% waste. Finally, preparatory virtual energy simulations were implemented to analyse the performance of that mix in a simplified architectural model, revealing a sufficient energy improvement and a more efficacy in cold climates. All considering, coffee waste can be effectively reused to manufacture green bio-composite thermoplasters with adequate energy performance considering the main requirements of a building application.
keywords
WASTE; MANAGEMENT
subject category
Construction & Building Technology; Engineering; Materials Science
authors
Saeli, M; Capela, MN; Campisi, T; Seabra, MP; Tobaldi, DM; La Fata, CM
our authors
David Maria Tobaldi
Researcher
Manfredi Saeli
Post-Doc Fellowship
Maria Paula Seabra
Assistant Professor
Marinélia Capela
ResearcherProjects
Collaboratory for Emerging Technologies, CoLab (EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES)
acknowledgements
Dr. C. Sequeira (Dept of Geoscience, University of Aveiro) is acknowledged for the XRF analysis and Dr. I. Silveirinha Vilarinho (CICECO, University of Aveiro) for the SCG SEM images. Eng. L. Semeraro is thanked for helping in specimens' preparation. M. Saeli would like to acknowledge the project PON Research and Innovation 2014-2020 section 2 AIM: Attraction and International Mobility with D.D. 407 of 27/02/2018 co-financed by the European Social Fund - CUP B74I19000650001 - id project AIM 1890405-3, area: Technologies for the Environments of Life, S.C. 08/C1, S.S.D. ICAR/10. D.M. Tobaldi is funded by the project EleGaNTe -PON ARS01_01007. M.N. Capela wishes to thank Portugal 2020 through the European Regional Development Fund in the frame of the Operational Competi-tiveness and Internationalization Program in the scope of the project CICECO-Aveiro Institute of Materials, UIDB/50011/2020 & UIDP/50011/2020, co-financed by national funds through the FCT/MEC.