EU Climate Ideathon 2026 · Kayseri winner

Coffee ends. The scent stays.
Keep it out of the bin.

We collect the coffee grounds cafés throw away, recover their aroma, and turn them into a traceable fragrance ingredient for perfume and essence makers.

How it worksRead the blog (Turkish)

The problem

The climate cost of waste

  1. 1

    Mixed at the source

    Wet grounds in cafés are thrown into general waste without being separated.

  2. 2

    Rotting without oxygen

    Wet organic waste is taken to landfill together with general waste.

  3. 3

    Methane (CH4) release

    As grounds rot without oxygen they release methane, a potent greenhouse gas.

Our problem is not just waste; it is the avoidable methane emission that wet coffee grounds cause in landfill.

Mussatto et al. (2011), Food and Bioprocess Tech.; IPCC AR5 (2013) WG I; IPCC (2006) GHG Inventory Guidelines Vol. 5

Why it matters

The hidden climate price of a cup of coffee

“A waste stream that looks small and scattered calls for a fast local response, because methane has such a strong short-term warming effect.”

IFST (2021); IPCC AR6 (2021); EU Waste Framework Directive

Value chain

Who do we create value for?

Source / supply partners

Cafés

  • Regular grounds
  • Separate collection
  • Batch tracking

POSAVER conversion point

From grounds to fragrance ingredient

  1. Local collection
  2. Drying
  3. Extraction
  4. Filtration
  5. Traceability (QR / batch data)

B2B customer

Perfume, essence and cosmetics makers

A fragrance ingredient with a known source, traceable and backed by process data.

EU sustainability reporting rules such as the CSRD ask big brands to report supply-chain emissions too. That is why a measured, traceable ingredient is valuable.

POSAVER research on carbon trading and EU regulation (October 2026)

The solution

Our solution and what sets us apart

  1. 01

    Separation at the café

    Grounds are collected separately at the source, never mixed into general waste.

  2. 02

    Batch and grounds record via QR

    Every collection is logged as a batch.

  3. 03

    Data-driven micro-route

    Dynamic collection based on how much has built up.

  4. 04

    Controlled drying

    Stabilisation lets the grounds be processed before they spoil.

  5. 05

    Aroma recovery

    Ethanol extraction and filtration.

  6. 06

    B2B ingredient

    A fragrance ingredient for perfume and essence makers.

Competitor comparison

ApproachFocus
Bio-bean / Revive EcoValorisation focused on energy and biofuel
UpCircle BeautyB2C skincare products
Kaffe BuenoCosmetic oils and active ingredients
POSAVERLocal micro-collection + traceability + aroma recovery, a fragrance-focused B2B ingredient

How we differ from conventional coffee extract

TopicConventionalPOSAVER
Raw materialFreshly roasted beansWaste espresso grounds; free and local
TraceabilityAt lot levelQR at café + day + batch level; drying and extraction conditions recorded
StatusNone“Upcycled” raw material. Essence giants such as Givaudan and dsm-firmenich show the demand is real
Scent profileFresh coffee, strong top notesA softer, roasted, caramel-like gourmand base note (to be measured)
SolventMostly CO₂ or a solvent (hexane included)Ethanol only; no hexane
Leftover groundsUsually not usedCascade: goes on to a second use (panels, mushroom substrate, filament)

What sets us apart: we recover the aroma value of the grounds at the source, and aim to make local collection more efficient with dynamic route suggestions based on how much has built up.

Hekserij (CO₂ coffee extract); CHEM21 Solvent Selection Guide; Givaudan and dsm-firmenich upcycling announcements; POSAVER logistics and café partnership study (October 2026)

Where we are

From idea to field, from field to lab

2027–2028 target: with a contracted collection model, 20 cafés first, then 200 cafés by the end of the period.

POSAVER project file (October 2026)

Product map

The scent comes out; the leftover grounds still count

We have two raw materials: the extract and the grounds left after extraction. The extract is only about 12% of the mass. Finding buyers for the remaining ~88% is essential for both revenue and the “zero waste” claim.

~12%

Extract

  1. Now

    Home scent and café signature scent

    Candles, diffusers, room sprays. Light regulation, strong story. Co-branded products made for the café.

  2. Short term

    Standardised extract for essence houses

    With a GC-MS profile, allergen declaration and batch QR. A gourmand base note in perfume (coffee + bergamot, vanilla, tonka).

  3. Medium term

    Cosmetics and contract manufacturing

    Coffee oil and scrub products, following the cosmetics regulation process (TİTCK, ÜTS).

  4. R&D

    Antioxidant active ingredient

    An active ingredient from the polyphenols in the grounds; any efficacy claim needs testing.

~88%

Leftover grounds

  1. Short term

    3D-printer filament and mushroom substrate

    Defatted grounds can be blended into PLA filament and can serve as a growing medium for oyster mushrooms.

  2. Medium term

    Biocomposite panels and brick

    Interior panels for Kayseri’s furniture industry; an additive for fired clay brick.

  3. R&D

    Biochar and activated carbon

    A soil improver and filter material; a biochar removal credit would need further work.

The ash can even become a ceramic glaze: a cup glazed with the café’s own grounds.

Most of these applications already exist in the literature and at other companies. But the scent profile, oil and antioxidant content of our own grounds have not been measured yet. GC-MS results and feedback from the essence side will decide which product to pursue.

Oh Hyung-sin (2014), J. Korean Ceramic Society; Washington State University (2020); Muñoz Velasco et al. (2015); Givaudan upcycling and Koffee’Up; Perfumer & Flavorist; Miłek et al. (2023); POSAVER product and sector map (October 2026)

Café partnership

How the café partnership works

A café that gives us its grounds gets a report, visibility and extra income in return. The café’s only job is to put the grounds in a separate container.

What we give the café

  • Free, regular collection and a lidded bin
  • Annual avoided-CO₂ report (reporting, not credits)
  • “Zero Waste Café” label (in talks with the municipality)
  • A product made from its own grounds: on consignment, 30% of the shelf price goes to the café
  • Promotion of the café on social media and our website

What we ask of the café

  • Espresso grounds only, with no non-coffee waste mixed in
  • Permission to log daily weight (QR)
  • At least 3 months of participation
  • Displaying and selling the product on the shelf

No exclusivity. Unsold product is taken back, so the café carries no stock risk.

How does collection scale?

  1. Up to 20 cafés

    Short-range collection

    Within a single district cluster, over short distances. Transport cost and emissions stay at their lowest.

  2. 50 cafés

    Fixed route

    By small vehicle, in the same order at the same time every day. The café staff’s routine does not change.

  3. 100–200 cafés

    Micro hubs

    A pre-processing point in every district. Grounds are dried there before moving to the main site, so there is less weight to carry.

The rule: grounds are never moved on a single-purpose vehicle trip.

In our model the emissions saved by diverting grounds from the bin are about 0.63 kg CO2e per kg of wet grounds. Collecting by vehicle eats roughly a quarter of that, which is why we keep collection short and planned.

POSAVER logistics and café partnership study, cost model assumptions (October 2026)

Pilot

Technical decisions and constraints

Ethanol is a flammable solvent

Ventilated fume hood, low volume (<5 L), PPE, spark-free laboratory

Drying uses electricity

Measure kWh/kg, assess passive / solar-assisted drying

Transport footprint grows with distance

A micro-collection network

Loss risk in the process

Track losses and side streams with a mass balance, minimise disposal

Resource needs

  • Equipment

    Ethanol + glass extraction / filtration setup

  • Raw material

    Wet grounds from 3 cafés in the pilot area

  • Space

    A ventilated, controlled area

  • Team

    A process lead + a field / collection lead

  • Stakeholders

    3 pilot cafés + a laboratory + a scent evaluation partner

  • Budget

    Solvent, glassware, drying, collection bins, logistics

Page et al. (2017) Waste Management, DOI:10.1016/j.wasman.2017.08.043; Andrade et al. (2022) Foods

12 weeks

A local pilot in 12 weeks: measure first, then grow

  1. Weeks 1–2

    Measurement

    14 days of grounds measurement in at least 3 cafés, mean + deviation analysis

  2. Weeks 3–4

    Traceable collection

    QR / batch records, collection time, address, moisture tracking

  3. Weeks 5–7

    Process & route trials

    Drying temperature, solvent ratio, extraction time + dynamic route test

  4. Weeks 8–9

    Standardise

    Repeatable extraction + collection thresholds

  5. Weeks 10–11

    Scent evaluation

    Scent strips, candidate formulas

  6. Week 12

    Environmental and economic decision

    Mass balance, energy, unit cost, route distance, side streams

“The decision to scale will rest not only on scent success, but on energy, route efficiency, recovery and material-flow performance.”

Growth

Controlled growth: from a micro network to macro scale

  1. 1

    Local pilot

    3 cafés

    • QR + batch tracking
    • Quality + route validation
  2. 2

    Same region

    New cafés

    • Route optimisation
    • Fill level + distance tracking
  3. 3

    Micro hubs

    3 → 20 → 200

    • Regional hubs
    • AI-assisted route optimisation
    • Standardisation
  4. 4

    B2B supply

    A steady fragrance input

    • Traceable source
    • Measured environmental performance

The loop: Revenue from B2B raw-material sales → keeps local collection and micro-hub operations running.

Measurement

How will we measure climate impact?

kg CO2e / kg grounds processed

Net climate benefit

=Avoided landfill emissions−Transport emissions−Process energy emissions

In short

Why POSAVER?

POSAVER is an integrated model that collects scattered, fast-spoiling coffee grounds close to the source and in a traceable way, recovers their aromatic value, and aims to turn them into a high-value B2B fragrance ingredient while measuring climate impact with data.

Blog

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Contact

Let’s start together

Become our pilot café

Would you like to collect your wet coffee grounds separately and log them as batches in the pilot area? Be part of our pilot network and the collection routes that follow.

Become our pilot café

Become our fragrance partner

If you make perfume, essences or cosmetics, work with us on evaluating a traceable fragrance ingredient made from coffee grounds.

Become our fragrance partner

Write to us

Team Fatmanur Doğan · Batuhan Kara · Orhan Bilgin · Ali Açmak