Eco Brand Aims To Replace Palm Oil With Coffee Waste

Environmentally-conscious brand, Revive Eco, aims to globally replace palm oil using coffee waste.

Founded by Scottish entrepreneurs, Scott Kennedy and Fergus Moore, the company is developing a process to extract and purify the oils found in coffee waste, which could then be used in products such as cosmetics, food, and pharmaceuticals.

Alongside funding from the Zero Waste Scotland agency, Revive Eco is also aiming to win the Chivas Venture competition for a share of a £776,000.

A ‘simple ambition’

“Having worked in cafes and restaurants for a number of years, we became sick and tired of seeing more and more coffee grounds being needlessly sent to landfill,” the brand’s website reads.

“In the UK, we drink 55 million cups of coffee each day, leading to over half a million tonnes of coffee grounds being generated and wasted. We strive to radically change mindsets, and show that materials can still possess huge value, even after being used for their primary purpose.

“We set out with the simple ambition of finding a use for coffee beyond the usual morning pick-me-up and bringing new life to what was previously viewed as waste.”

Long terms plans

Moore told BBC Radio’s Good Morning Scotland programme that he’s aiming for the process to be ‘up and running in Glasgow by next summer’.

He added: “Longer term, we want to build the business to a place where we can franchise into different countries and replicate the business model elsewhere.

“We’d rather build a new process in Rome, Paris, Berlin – any other big coffee-drinking cities [around] the world.”