A new purpose for coffee grounds

LIFE ECOFFEED is a initiative advocating for the incorporation of coffee grounds into animal feed.

This European endeavor focuses on reclaiming coffee grounds and remnants from capsules with the aim of “transforming them into valuable secondary materials for the nutrition of sheep and dairy cattle,” as indicated on its official website.

The project is coordinated by the technological center AZTI and involves multiple participants in its development, mostly from the Basque Country, but it also has collaborators in Navarra and southern France.

The emphasis of LIFE ECOFFEED addresses two requirements to seek a shared solution. The AZTI technological center elaborates on the recovery and conversion of coffee grounds into feed ingredients for dairy cattle:

“…it will reduce the amount of imported animal feed, decrease environmental impacts and CO2 emissions, and establish a circular economy approach benefiting the coffee and livestock sectors.”

LIFE ECOFFEED secured over 50% of its funding from the European Union’s LIFE Environment and Resource Efficiency program. Through numerous experimental trials carried out in this initiative, AZTI recently remarked:

“Between 10 and 15% of coffee grounds have been included in sheep diets with good results in milk production, milk quality, and methane emission reduction (up to 20% lower). Additionally, the component has a lower cost than traditional raw materials.”

ecoffeed

The research continues in the field of dairy cattle. However, as previously noted, the efficacy of the ingredient has already been proven in dairy sheep, described by the project leader, David San Martín, as “safe, nutritious, and environmentally friendly.”