A Starbucks in Seoul Offers Gardeners Leftover Coffee Grounds

Starbucks serves up freshly-brewed cups of joes to the masses but not many customers in South Korea know that the company recycles their used coffee grounds. Patrons can pick a bag, at no cost, for gardening purposes. The grinds are packed with phosphoric acid, nitrogen, potassium, and among other beneficial minerals. 

According to the beloved coffee business, they also assist in repelling harmful insects and diseases like blight. The company also uses a large percentage of coffee grounds to make compost and manufacture fertilizer. By 2022 the multinational chain had used 10 tons of the byproduct to make eco-friendly flower pots, and 30 tons went into biofuel research and sampling.