A world-first, coffee concrete footpath, is now making up sections of the footpath along Howey Street in Gisborne.
RMIT University teamed up with Macedon Ranges Shire Council to conduct a world-first coffee concrete footpath trial with other regional Victorian cities due to follow suit. The RMIT team is partnering with Australian-owned, BildGroup – a civil infrastructure, asphalt paving and road profiling company – to deliver these circular-economy projects.
Organic waste going to landfills, including spent coffee grounds, contributes 3% of greenhouse gas emissions.
Dr Rajeev Roychand and his colleagues at RMIT are set on transforming this waste into a valuable resource for the construction industry.
Australia generates 75 million kilograms of ground coffee waste yearly – most of it going to landfills – but Dr Roychand says it could replace up to 655 million kilograms of sand in concrete as it is a denser material. Globally, 10 billion kilograms of spent coffee is generated annually, which could replace up to 90 billion kilograms of sand in concrete.
Shane Walden, Council’s Director of Assets and Operations, says council is pleased to be working with RMIT on this innovative project.
The researchers will evaluate the performance of the concrete in these trial footpaths in Gisborne, to support the further rollout of this innovation.
“We are currently working in the supply chain sector so that we can make this research into a mainstream product for commercial applications, and we’re not only looking into coffee – we’re expanding this into all forms of different organic waste,” Dr Roychand says.
