Rethinking Coffee Waste: Unlocking the Untapped Value of the Cherry
As the global coffee sector seeks innovative ways to boost sustainability and profitability, fresh attention is turning to one of its most overlooked resources: the by-products of the coffee cherry. In a recent expert essay titled “The Hidden Wealth of the Cherry — Rethinking Waste in the Coffee Economy,” Dr. Steffen Schwarz of Coffee Consulate outlines a transformative vision that challenges traditional approaches to waste in coffee production.
For every kilogram of green coffee exported, nearly six kilograms of organic matter — including pulp, mucilage, parchment, silverskin, and spent grounds — are left behind. These materials, often discarded or burned, have long been considered waste. Yet, as Dr. Schwarz emphasizes, they are rich in chemical, nutritional, and energetic potential.
The Coffee Development Report 2022–2023 supports this viewpoint, identifying over 40 million tonnes of organic by-products generated by the coffee industry annually. Rather than being externalities, these materials are now viewed as key assets within a circular economy framework.
Pulp, for example, accounts for nearly half the cherry’s mass and is rich in polyphenols, sugars, and fiber. It can be transformed into cascara tea, flour, pectin, or even biogas. Mucilage, once an obstacle in wet processing, can yield natural gums and serve as a fermentation base. Silverskin, released during roasting, is now used in biodegradable packaging, while spent coffee grounds are being upcycled into cosmetics, textiles, and building materials.
Around the world, these ideas are already in motion. In Costa Rica, cascara is being exported as a premium infusion product. In Uganda, coffee pulp powers biogas systems for depulping machines. In countries like Germany and South Korea, spent grounds are repurposed into eco-friendly materials for furniture and packaging.
What marks this shift as revolutionary is not only the technology but the mindset. “A circular coffee economy does not begin with recycling,” Dr. Schwarz notes. “It begins with recognition — that the by-product is also the product.” This change redefines the coffee value chain, expanding its scope beyond the green bean to include all parts of the cherry.
Achieving this transformation will require systemic change. Processing infrastructure must be updated to preserve and repurpose by-products. Farmers must be equipped and incentivized to process cascara or manage spent pulp. Distribution systems must evolve to support new product categories derived from what was once considered waste.
There are also clear environmental benefits. Left unmanaged, coffee waste emits methane, contaminates water, and degrades soil. When reintegrated into farming systems, however, it becomes a regenerative force — sequestering carbon, enriching soils, and reducing dependence on synthetic fertilizers.
Ultimately, the future of sustainable coffee may not lie solely in how we grow beans, but in how we rethink and reuse every part of the cherry. As Dr. Schwarz concludes, “What if the richest part of the cherry was the part we never exported?”
