Belem - Valor. Silver Skins
This project aims to develop a valorization strategy for coffee silverskin, transforming this coffee roasting by-product into high-value products and unlocking new opportunities for sustainability and resource efficiency.
Factsheet
- Schools involved School of Engineering and Computer Science
- Institute(s) Institute for Data Applications and Security (IDAS)
- Research unit(s) IDAS / Management Science, Innovation, Sustainability and Entrepreneurship (MSIE)
- Funding organisation Innosuisse
- Duration (planned) 04.04.2025 - 04.10.2025
- Head of project Dr. Maria Franco Mosquera
- Partner Belém Café Rösterei AG
- Keywords Coffee valorization, circular economy, silver skins valorization, circular economy
Situation
This projects concerns the investigation and development a comprehensive valorization strategy of coffee silverskins (CS) for Belém Café Rösterei AG, with the aim of transforming this biowaste into high-value products. Coffee silverskin (CS) is the thin epidermis covering and protecting the coffee bean and represents the main by-product of a coffee roasting process. For every ton of roasted coffee it is estimated, as reference, that approximately 7.5-8.5 kg of CS is produced, depending on the coffee variety and the roasting process used. After the roasting process, CS are typically discarded as waste. This practice not only presents significant disposal challenges and imposes financial costs on coffee roasters, but also contributes to a range of adverse environmental impacts, including increased landfill volume and greenhouse gas emissions from decomposing organic waste. More importantly, by discarding coffee silverskins as waste, valuable ingredients are lost that could have otherwise been repurposed and valorized. These include antioxidants and dietary fibers, phenolic compounds, as well as bioactive compounds such as chlorogenic acids and flavonoids. This represents a missed opportunity for value creation and resource efficiency.
