Once I had the idea of using food waste to create materials for the food compost bin within the uint. I recalled a product I saw while I was in the V&A for the Food exhibition. A company called Kaffeeform used coffee grounds to make coffee cups. I thought that was a really nice idea. So I decided to look into it little bit more.
Product designer Julian Lechner was intrigued by the idea of creating something new and lasting out of supposed waste, so he began experimenting with coffee grounds. He used coffee grounds mixed with natural resin and wood dust to create the material for the Kaffeeform cups. I realized my idea is very similar to this but with a different application of the material property.
https://www.kaffeeform.com/en/
I used a basic formula to create the bioplastic base then added coffee grounds into the mix. The bioplastic acted as an adhesive to glue the coffee grounds together. I am having difficulty to keep the material from curling and deforming as it drys flat at the moment. Maybe I should try to use mold and pressure to force the material into a form like he did? It took Julian 3 years to find the perfect formula so it can be manufactured. I will need to do more tests with the material and think about more potential applications from the coffee grounds or other food waste.
RCA Graduate diploma 2019 