Summer, global warming, and sustainable roasting

It’s getting hot these days and that makes sense because it’s summer, but it is also getting hotter each year because of global warming. As Giesen, we strive to become more sustainable, but we also want to inspire each other to become more sustainable. In this article, we discuss some tips & tricks. Enjoy!

Green coffee roasting

Chaff & burlap bags
There are some things that you, as a roaster, can not avoid while roasting your coffee beans. That is coffee chaff and burlap bags. Chaff is the dry scaly protective skin of the seed of a coffee bean and falls off during the coffee roasting process. Most of the time the chaff is being thrown away, but there is also an opportunity to give it a second life. Did you know that chaff can be used as an addition to compost in agriculture? The chaff first needs to be degraded with compost before you can use it in the soil.

Burlap coffee bags are already eco-friendly and sustainable and finding ways to repurpose these sacks is practical. You can also reuse them as decoration, for example, a wall full of burlap bags or wall decoration. You can also reach out to your local beekeeper and help save the bees! Apparently burning the jute bags produces non-toxic smoke that helps keep bees calm when a beekeeper needs to inspect a hive.

Ofcourse you can also reuse these things yourself, but if you have too many chaff and/or burlap, reach out to farmers/beekeepers in your neighborhood and see if they are interested.

Single-use items
While roasting coffee you might use a lot of single-use items. Trying to make an impact on the environment requires us to think about the possibilities to replace those items. Try to find a way you can replace your single-use items with something more durable. It’s not always possible, but every little bit helps. The use of some single-use items is sometimes inevitable, so if use you use them, make sure they are recyclable.

Examples of reducing single-use items when you sell coffee to go:

• If customers bring their own mug, they get a discount on their coffee. In this case, the single-use coffee cup is being replaced and you work together with your customer.
• Use recyclable coffee-to-go cups and straws.

Maintenance
Daily maintenance is important to keep your machine running smoothly and also for the safety of your machine. Keeping your roaster well-maintained will make it last longer and this has also an impact on the enviroment. To make cleaning the machine easier you can also acquire an external cyclone. This means that during and after roasting you no longer need to clean behind the two cyclone doors.

Benefits

Up to date with your customers
Nowadays, consumers are increasingly aware of what they are buying and what their footprint is on this earth. Being transparent as a business is concerned to be a huge benefit. So if you show your customers that you care about sustainability, they are more likely to buy from you.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)/ futureproof
CSR revolves around the aspect of being responsible for your surroundings. Think about climate neutrality, fair trade, recycling, etc. It’s also an important aspect of making your business futureproof. Nowadays many new regulations are being implemented in each country with the purpose of making the country climate neutral. Staying up to date with these regulations, or being ahead of them, makes your business futureproof.

Equipment

In addition to your roaster, we offer an SFE Filter and a Catalytic Emission Cleaner (CEC) to have more control over your emission. 

SFE Filter
Here are some of the benefits of using an SFE Filter:

• Filters smoke & smell
• Available for W6 Series (SFE25) and W15A (SFE50)
• Reduces grease, smoke, and fine dust emissions
• Reduces operational costs

For more information, click here.

Catalytic Emission Cleaner:
Here are some of the benefits of using a CEC:

• Reduces your environmental footprint
• Available W6 and up, in three sizes
• Built-in afterburner and catalytic converter
• Small footprint, compact design

For more information, click here.

Newsletter

As said before we want to inspire others to be a part of our mission to become more sustainable. That’s why we decided to plant a tree for every new newsletter subscription we get. Click here if you want to subscribe to our newsletter.

More tips & tricks

Stay tuned! Because in the future we will post more tips and tricks about sustainability in the coffee roasting business.