Since 2021, Grounds for Good has diverted waste coffee grounds from landfill, turning them into a range of products including spirits distilled with spent coffee grounds, preserves and vegan chocolate bars. In October 2025 alone, the company has collected a massive 9.9 tonnes of grounds, adding to a total of 29 tonnes of coffee grounds diverted away from landfill since January 2025. Now, thanks to support from the CEIC programme, the company has caught the attention of major corporate sponsors.
I am an out-and-out coffee geek and it absolutely fills me with delight that we can be making a meaningful impact with this waste product.
Through CEIC’s Clean Growth Programme, Grounds for Good was able to establish a bespoke waste coffee grounds collection across the whole Cardiff area, creating a prolific waste stream for circular product manufacturing and green energy production via anaerobic digestion. The service uses back haulage, so no additional emissions are created. The company’s three end points for spent coffee grounds are product manufacturing, green energy production and Research & Development activities.
Every 4.5kg of coffee grounds creates around 1kWh of energy, and the company is has been collecting around six tonnes every month – a figure that’s growing as more local businesses get on board. As well as attracting sponsorship from Comercity and South Wales Safety, Grounds for Good is also embarking on a pilot trial with three major retail café locations.
These exciting developments follow not one but two prestigious food and drink awards. The company scooped ‘Best in Show’ at the Abergavenny Food and Drink Festival, and won a gold medal for its Aperoffi product in the 2025 Great British Food Awards.
And there’s more on the horizon, too. Thanks to the connections Grounds for Good made during CEIC, it’s now talking to another participant about incorporating waste coffee grounds into their green concrete trials.
Waste coffee grounds still contain over 90% of the original bean constituents. At Grounds for Good, we harness these powerful ingredients into award-winning, first-to-market retail products. Our aim is to demonstrate that waste can be upcycled into beautiful, sustainable and delicious premium products.
It’s fantastic to see innovations like this develop from the CEIC programme, and everyone on the team is very proud to have supported this great initiative that truly demonstrates the potential of a circular economy.
