Turning Coffee Waste into Farm Fertility

Turning Coffee Waste into Farm Fertility: A Collective Project

On 15 January 2026, thebfg.team entered into a landmark collaboration with Sebijihub and Mr Jagung Merah to tackle one of the most overlooked urban waste streams: used coffee grounds. Together, we committed to redirecting 50,000 kilograms of spent coffee grounds from city cafés into a regenerative cycle that transforms waste into value—fertilizer for farms.

Why Coffee Grounds?

Every day, urban cafés brew thousands of cups of coffee, leaving behind mountains of grounds that often end up in landfills. While seemingly harmless, this organic waste contributes to methane emissions when left to decompose improperly. Yet coffee grounds are rich in nitrogen and other nutrients that can enrich soil health. By reimagining their journey, we can turn a waste problem into a farming solution.

The Partnership

• thebfg.team brings its conviction-driven framework to ensure visibility, trust, and honour for businesses that act for good.

• Sebijihub, a hub for sustainable innovation, provides the infrastructure and expertise to process organic waste into usable agricultural inputs.

• Mr Jagung Merah, a farmer and advocate for regenerative practices, ensures that the outputs are tested, applied, and scaled in real farming contexts.

Together, this triad represents the full cycle: from urban consumption to rural regeneration.

The Process

1. Collection: Partner cafés across urban centres will segregate and deposit their used coffee grounds with urban community farms.

2. Redirection: Logistics partners will transport the dehydrated grounds to rural farms.

3. Transformation: Through controlled composting and nutrient balancing, the grounds will be converted into high-quality organic fertilizers.

4. Application: Mr Jagung Merah and collaborating farms will apply the fertilizers to crops, closing the loop between city and countryside.

   
   

Impact Goals

• Environmental: Prevent 50,000 kg of organic waste from entering landfills, reducing methane emissions.

• Agricultural: Supply farms with nutrient-rich fertilizers that improve soil health and crop yields.

• Social: Create a visible model of urban-rural collaboration that honours cafés, processors, and farmers alike.

• Economic: Lower input costs for farmers while giving cafés a meaningful sustainability story to share with their customers.

A Conviction Network in Action

This project is more than waste management—it is a demonstration of conviction. By aligning businesses, innovators, and farmers under a shared brandmark of trust, we show how for-good initiatives can be seen, trusted, and honoured. It is a living example of thebfg.team’s mission: to make conviction-driven businesses visible and celebrated through transparent audits and collective campaigns.

Looking Ahead

The 50,000 kg milestone is just the beginning. As more cafés join the effort and more farms benefit from the fertilizers, we envision scaling this model across regions. Coffee, once a symbol of urban lifestyle, becomes a bridge to rural resilience.