Zero-Waste Coffee: Exploring the Many Uses of Coffee Chaff

4 April 2018

Our business approach

Here at Iron & Fire we have a strong ethos in terms of operating our business in the most eco-friendly way we can. We aim to source our beans responsibly and transparently sourcing our beans from small, independent farms where workers are respected and treated fairly. This approach also allows customers to know where their coffee comes from and how it arrived in their cup. Here at our roastery in Shrewsbury, one of our aims is to produce great coffee whilst minimising our carbon footprint. For example, all of our takeaway coffee cups are compostable, something the market is finally pushing the coffee industry to do, and rightly so.

Coffee chaff

Coffee chaff is a waste product of the roasting process of coffee beans. The beans shed their protective skin that is discarded as chaff, and usually this is an annoyance for coffee roasters as it’s seen as waste that gets everywhere due to it’s fluffy, light texture… and we have lots of it. But actually, chaff has some great uses for the home and garden, including:

-Chaff is ideal for composting as it is organic, light and airy so will mix really well with other compostable contents. It’s best to add a layer of chaff onto food waste and then more compost on top of the chaff, as due to its lightweight nature it could blow away quite easily and absorb water too, which as a result could end up rather slimy.

-Coffee chaff is incredibly rich in nitrogen and so not only enriches soil but helps fast-growing vegetables like tomatoes grow well- meaning gardeners in the know love the stuff! It also helps to ward off pesky slugs and snails- they can’t stand the smell of coffee. We at Iron & Fire use our chaff on our roastery vegetable patch – you are welcome to come and collect a bag if you wish, there is plenty of it.

-Chaff has proven to be a really good alternative for animal bedding, including for chickens and rabbits. Not only is it free and smells good, it has no connection to the timber industry like with some beddings, it’s easy to handle and is soft/fluffy for the animals. An all round winner!

If you think you would benefit from using some coffee chaff, then please pop into our Shrewsbury roastery today to bag yourself some- we always have some going spare.

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