The potential of coffee remains has already been recognised worldwide, both in terms of organic composting, energy recovery and the production of new materials, e.g. for skin care products, durable coffee cups as well as plates, and fuels (biodiesel, pellets or briquettes for heating). The problem of re-use of coffee remains lies mainly in the cost of preparing the raw material on an industrial scale, and in the organisation/ logistics of collection itself. The participation of households is also crucial in setting up a coffee remains collection system. Coffee remains are the coffee grounds that are produced during the coffee preparation and consumption process and end up in biowaste. The management of the relatively large quantities of coffee remains generated would require a national plan in line with European regulations. In the master thesis we assume that briquettes made from coffee remains could be used mainly as solid fuel in households. It should be noted, however, that according to the waste hierarchy, coffee remains are composted rather than thermally recovered, as composting takes priority over thermal recovery. Given that coffee remains have a higher upper calorific value than wood, it would make sense to recover it for energy. The added value of using coffee briquettes over RDF/SRF fuels from waste is that their chemical and physical properties also make them suitable for use in individual combustion plants in households, as they do not require special flue gas cleaning systems.
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