Let the aroma of every cup of coffee accompany a longer journey (Beautiful China: Green Stories Around Us)

During the Qingming mini-holiday, the popularity of the Elephant Specialty Coffee Estate in Nabanghe Village, Nanshang Town, Simao District, Pu’er City, Yunnan continues to rise, and the on-site guesthouses were booked solid early on. In addition to overnight guests, many local residents and tourists also come specifically to check in and have fun, just to sample the estate’s coffee.

Not long ago, the estate had just finished this season’s coffee fruit fresh-picking work. Taking advantage of the freshness of the newly harvested fruit, the workers in the workshop are rushing to roast coffee beans so that guests can taste, right away, the mellow aroma of freshly made, seasonal coffee beans.

Behind the massive output lies the pressure of processing vast quantities of coffee grounds—as well as huge potential for resource reuse

Afternoon sunlight streams through the glass windows and falls on the tasting table. Elephant Specialty Coffee Estate founder Chen Pingxian is skillfully brewing a pour-over coffee.

The water slowly drips over the finely ground coffee powder, and the rich aroma bursts out instantly. “Come try our fresh specialty beans—grown and roasted by ourselves. The flavor is especially good!” Chen Pingxian laughs as she greets the visiting guests, her hands never stopping.

After the brewing is complete, she collects the coffee grounds on the filter paper. In her eyes, these coffee grounds used to be waste—now they’re “treasure,” and they can’t be wasted.

Chen Pingxian’s estate has a planting area of 200 mu. Together with cooperation with coffee growers in the surrounding area, the total planting area exceeds 4,000 mu. Each year, it sells about 20 tons of green beans, attracting coffee enthusiasts from all over the country to come by reputation.

As the estate’s coffee aroma grows stronger, the “headache” of coffee grounds grows along with it.

“In the past, coffee grounds were just thrown away casually. When the weather got hot, if they were left there for a long time they would smell, and they also took up space. Even the farmers nearby had complaints.” She said that back then, a lot of coffee grounds were produced every day. Dumping them in the fields not only polluted the environment, but also wasted resources.

Such troubles are not unique to Chen Pingxian. In Yunnan, a province with huge coffee output, this is a challenge faced by many people in the coffee industry.

In 2025, Yunnan’s province-wide coffee green bean production reached 138.9 thousand tons. Relevant data show that each ton of coffee beans can produce 650 kilograms of coffee grounds. That means that for every 300-milliliter cup of coffee, about 13 grams of coffee grounds are generated. And when 15 grams of coffee beans are processed into coffee, it produces about 0.4 kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalent. That is comparable to an average gasoline-powered car driving 2 kilometers. Behind the massive output lies the pressure of handling large quantities of coffee grounds—and hidden within it is huge potential for resource reuse.

Coffee grounds cultural and creative products that contain both the flavor of everyday life and an environmental concept—once launched, they were immediately well received

How to utilize this resource? Chen Pingxian began exploring ways to process coffee grounds. She repeatedly considered the characteristics of coffee grounds, and gradually came up with an idea: “Coffee grounds have a faint natural aroma and a delicate texture. Maybe they can be turned into cultural and creative products. That would be both eco-friendly and meaningful as a keepsake!” After collecting the coffee grounds and drying them, starting with simple aroma sachets (xiangpai), she began trying to make coffee cultural and creative items.

A series of coffee grounds cultural and creative products—aroma sachets, bracelets, and small display pieces—were introduced one after another. What Chen Pingxian didn’t expect was that these cultural and creative items, imbued with the warmth of everyday life and an environmental concept, became extremely popular with tourists as soon as they came out. Many visitors come to the estate, drink coffee, and then enthusiastically take part in making coffee grounds cultural and creative items with their own hands.

In addition to coffee grounds, coffee fruit peels are also fully utilized. Chen Pingxian led her employees to wash and sun-dry the peels, making peel tea. The price is about the same as coffee beans. It’s pleasantly sweet, cuts greasiness, and has a coffee aroma, which is very popular with tourists. “After fermentation, the fruit peels can help regulate the soil’s acidity and alkalinity, and they can also provide nutrients for the coffee trees—one move with two benefits,” she said.

But Chen Pingxian was not satisfied with the status quo. Just when she hoped to break through further yet lacked technical support, the “Fei Tong Xiao Ke” team from Tianjin University of Commerce reached out to her proactively.

“During our research, we found that many coffee estates in Yunnan face problems like difficult coffee grounds processing and low added value.” Introducing Li Jiarong, head of the “Fei Tong Xiao Ke” team, she said that traditional landfill methods for coffee grounds produce methane, while incineration releases carbon dioxide and particulate matter. Recycling and reuse can build a closed-loop ecosystem, reducing pollution and resource waste.

The team used an “enzymatic hydrolysis–microwave coupling technology” to raise the chlorogenic acid retention rate in coffee grounds from 30% to 75%, achieving high value-added utilization. Li Jiarong said, “We can use coffee grounds to make coffee cups and furniture, and we can also extract coffee essential oil. We want to use professional technology to empower rural industries.”

Li Jiarong also explained that using an aerobic composting process can greatly reduce carbon emissions. If combined with biofuel for synergistic composting, then for every 1 ton of coffee grounds, about 100 kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalent can be reduced. “We also want to advance a pilot program for organic fertilizer made from coffee grounds—giving back to the coffee gardens, reducing the use of chemical fertilizers so the coffee stays more original. At the same time, we’ll connect with the carbon inclusive (Carbon Plus) benefit system, making the carbon-reduction benefits more measurable.”

Enable deep resource-based utilization of coffee grounds, and broaden local residents’ channels to increase income

“Currently, the team has designed in Yunnan a closed-loop process of ‘urban-rural dual-network recovery, centralized processing and reprocessing, and diversified sales.’ We plan to set up an eco-recovery station in Pu’er and connect with local contract manufacturers to achieve large-scale processing,” Li Jiarong said. They also signed “three-day recovery agreements” with coffee shops, and innovated a “carbon points recycling mechanism.” City users donate coffee grounds in exchange for product vouchers; adopting coffee trees can earn coffee beans and carbon points—creating a win-win situation.

Chen Pingxian is full of expectation for the cooperation: “We hope to set up a small processing factory at the estate, learn technology with universities, and cultivate local talent.” She also plans to jointly develop more coffee-themed cultural and creative products, so that the products can carry more coffee culture.

Beyond the exploration of the Elephant Specialty Coffee Estate and the team from Tianjin colleges, in Pu’er City, Ximeng Wa Autonomous County, efforts targeting coffee grounds processing have also blazed a distinctive path of regeneration—using coffee grounds to make yarn and jacquard brocade fabrics.

Relying on Yunnan’s abundant coffee resources, local actors proactively connect with relevant enterprises, tackle technical hurdles, process coffee grounds that were originally discarded into fine, soft yarn, and innovate its application in the production of Wa jacquard brocade. This kind of attempt not only adds a new eco-friendly selling point to the centuries-old Wa jacquard brocade tradition, but also enables deep resource-based utilization of coffee grounds, further broadening local residents’ income-increasing channels.

At Chen Pingxian’s estate, the DIY experience area is still lively. Tourists follow Chen Pingxian to grind coffee grounds and make aroma sachets; the aroma of coffee and the sounds of laughter and conversation intertwine. From “discarded burden” to “income-increasing treasure,” coffee grounds achieve a “comeback.” In the future, we believe regenerated coffee ground products will enter more people’s lives, so that the aroma of every cup of coffee can continue for a longer journey.