Coffee waste and plastic transformed into carbon capture material

  • Gas
  • October 7, 2025

Scientists from the University of Sharjah in the UAE have developed a newly patented technology that turns waste coffee grounds and plastic into carbon capture material.

The method combines plastic – in the form of polyethylene terephthalate – and coffee waste with potassium hydroxide to create a CO2 adsorbent that can capture the gas.

It works via co-pyrolysis. This is a process that heats the coffee grounds and plastic waste to about 600°C and in the process decomposes both the coffee waste and the plastic.

The carbon in these materials then reacts with potassium hydroxide – which acts as a chemical activating agent, generating gases like carbon monoxide and CO2 that etch pores into the carbon matrix, in the process ‘activating’ it.

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