SPENT COFFEE GROUNDS are used to generate energy in the Cagayan de Oro factory of leading coffee brand Nescafe.

The Nestle CDO factory’s atmospheric fluidized bed boiler (AFBB) is a state-of-the-art technology that burns and recycles spent coffee grounds into bunker fuel, which the factory uses for its operations. Spent coffee grounds are the remains of ground roasted coffee after extraction.

“Because we burn less oil in generating steam, the AFBB helps reduce environmental pollution and save energy costs,” says Ed Legasto, senior vice president of Nestle Philippines Inc. and manager of the Cagayan de Oro factory.

He said that by using biomass or the spent coffee grounds as substitute for bunker fuel, “we prevent emission of air pollutants such as sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide, which are natural by-products arising from the combustion of fossil fuels.”

“The installation of an efficient pollution control device called electrostatic precipitator (EP) makes the whole AFBB system compliant with the Clean Air Act or RA 8749,” Legasto says.

The process of recycling the spent coffee grounds starts after the green coffee beans are roasted. The ground-roasted coffee is processed with hot water using percolation batteries or extraction cells to produce the coffee extract.

While the coffee extract undergoes spray-drying to produce Nescafe’s best-selling coffee, the spent coffee grounds are sent to the disposal system to be used as fuel. The heat produced from this process is then used to produce the steam requirements of the factory.

Legasto says the AFBB was not the first environment-friendly technology that Nescafe had used.

“As early as 1994, the factory has been using the concept of biomass disposal using the Lurgi waste heat boiler system,” he says. “It also uses coffee grounds as a fuel to generate steam.”

He said the AFBB had the capacity to handle not only solid biomass from coffee processes but also colored water concentrate.

Nescafe has also implemented programs designed to create environmental awareness.

For example, its CDO factory has a solid waste management program designed to establish proper garbage segregation and disposal in Purok 11 of Bgy. Tablon, where the factory is located.

The program, participated by residents in the community, involves the creation of a communal eco-garden and eco-center, the sale of recyclable materials from segregated household wastes, and the production of organic fertilizers from the biodegradable wastes.