AN eco-conscious Scottish student has developed an ingenious way to recycle coffee grounds – by making them into spectacle frames.
Ryan Davren, 24, uses coffee grounds that would otherwise be sent to landfill to create the frames for his brand, Flat White.
Approximately 95 million cups of coffee are consumed every day in the UK, with little commercial use for the waste material.
But product design student Davren decided to use the grounds to produce frames for glasses. The University of Dundee came up with the idea while working in a cafe.
He said: “We live in a society that is fuelled by coffee but responsible for producing waste.
“Every time I make a cup of coffee, a hockey puck-size of compressed coffee is produced. I used to think that this was compostable, but it is actually sent to landfill.
“It is a hard material to recycle, and that is when I decided I would try and attribute some value to it by turning it into frames for glasses.”
Davren, from Bishopbriggs, Glasgow, mixes flax seed with the coffee grounds to make the frames, which all have a distinctive speckle effect.
He says early feedback has been positive and believes Flat White has a shot of achieving commercial success.
He said: “These first pairs are produced by myself in a workshop, but there is no reason why they could not be mass-produced.”
The student added: “The face is prime real estate and glasses are always a good conversation starter. Because these glasses look a bit different they promote conversation about what they are made of, and this serves to highlight the environmental issues in our culture.
“The material is castable and is very similar to wood to work with. The frames retain an organic smell, not like coffee, but there is an earthy character to every pair. The material is also incredibly robust, so I’m delighted with what I have been able to create.”
Davren will showcase his sustainable glasses at this year’s Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design and Architecture Degree Show from May 17-26.
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