Singapore firm that turns coffee grounds into furniture material wins award

A1 Environment technical director Mohamad Ismail Ibrahim working on a table made of used coffee grounds. - A1 ENVIRONMENT

SINGAPORE (The Straits Times/Asia News Network): This home-grown company collects sodden, used coffee grounds from cafes and hotels, and turns it into wood-like panels that can be used to make furniture.

The firm, A1 Environment, first removes contaminants such as coffee filters from the coffee by-product, then dries and processes the coffee grounds and mixes it with a binder so they can be shaped into fire-retardant panels.