Thick coffee is collected from cafes and restaurants, mixed with clay and alkaline activation to be added – a chemical that helps link the material. This mixture allows you to burn bricks at a temperature of only 200 ° C, 80% lower than the traditional 1000 ° C for clay bricks. Low temperatures help save energy and reduce CO₂ emissions – a regular brick, burned with coal, distinguish 64.26 grams of CO₂, while the new method reduces 80%of this indicator. This process is like preparing the cake: instead of flour and sugar, clay and coffee, and alkaline activation acts as a glue, connecting everything at low temperatures.
Bricks are also twice as stronger than the standard for building houses and buildings, which makes them a reliable construction material.
The project not only saves coffee waste from landfills, but also reduces dependence on natural resources, such as sand, and the exploitation is harmful to the ecosystem. Similar ideas appear in other countries: by 2024, Studio Grimshaw and East London University created Sugarcrete – bricks from Bagassa (sugarcane waste), distinguished by 15 % 20 % and lighter than concrete. Scientists have plans to expand technological scale so that it becomes a standard in construction, especially in infrastructure oriented in climate care.