Concrete is a ubiquitous but also environmentally harmful material. By converting coffee grounds to biochar, the team was able to reduce carbon emissions and create a concrete 30% stronger. The RMIT concrete is about to be tested in a new sidewalk funded by a local city council. It will be laid side-by-side with conventional concrete to allow for performance comparison.
“We’re taking those experiments and putting them in ground and in the field today, we’re going to have people walking across the concrete that includes these products, and RMIT is going to be coming back and doing testing to see how they stand up,” Shane Walden, the Council’s Director of Assets and Operations, told Yanko Design. “This not only helps improve the knowledge level of our contractors and our staff, but it also has lots of other benefits and benefits that are important to our community. This includes helping the environment, acting sustainably and, most importantly, reducing waste to landfill and having a circular economy.” The team is also exploring biochar produced with different organic wastes.