Sustainable material research: CoffeeBased panels in a condiment organizer

Abstract

Plastics that originate from renewable sources, such as potatoes or fungi, are called biobased plastics. Because of their origin, biobased plastics pose as sustainable alternative to traditional plastics, which are made from oil, a fossil substance. CoffeeBased is a small company that manufactures biobased plastic products, using their own developed materials (CB materials). To make these even more sustainable, CoffeeBased adds coffee waste as filler material to the biobased plastics. This reduces waste accumulation while generating a unique material. The coffee waste, called spent coffee grounds (SCG), adds attractive properties to the CB material. This includes a distinct coffee scent, and in combination with colorants, a coffee-like color is achieved. These unique properties suit the ambience of coffee product environments, like corporate coffee corners. CoffeeBased currently implements their CB material in (products such as) coffee machine fronts, coffee cups and coffee stations. The panels applied in the coffee stations are the most relevant to this thesis. The panel consists of a coating, adhesive, and a core that is laminated with CB material, referred to as CB laminate (EMPA, 2019). Unfortunately, the CB laminate does not function properly in the desired user context, as it discolors and distorts. To prevent this impact from reducing its aesthetic appeal, optimization is required. Next to that, the sustainable character of the panel in its entirety is questionable, as the other components have not been analyzed on this characteristic. Therefore, the first design challenge is to find an integral solution to improve both the context resistance as the sustainable value. The second challenge is to design a condiment organizer, which could form the perfect occasion to test the proposed optimized panel. The function of the condiment organizer is to display and organize additives used in coffee machine beverages, called condiments. Next to the implementation of the panel, the design has to incorporate a form language that corresponds with other CoffeeBased products. Based on the desires of the end user, limits of the manufacturing facilities and the resources available to CoffeeBased, requirements were set. The sustainability requirements are set on incorporating more waste and more biobased materials whilst ensuring the emittance of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) remains low. Keeping these requirements in mind, alternatives to the current components of the panel were looked for in market research. The theoretical best components were chosen and (physically) tested, which were CB2 as laminate material, Resysta NoWood by FiberPlast as core, BioImpact by Canect as adhesive and the clear lacquer by BioPin as coating. Four panel concepts are compared, each with different advantages. Increase in waste content is considered the most important optimization, as it suits the uniqueness of the CoffeeBased material. Therefore, the best suitable panel concept is the one composed of an EcoBoard core, CB1 laminate, BioImpact adhesive and BioPin lacquer. The optimized panel provides an increased sustainable value by a higher waste content of 83% and a biobased content increase of 12%, this while providing a potential VOC emittance reduction of 1%. Also, the concept entails edge band development, aiming to increase its aesthetic appeal and user context resistance. To tackle the second challenge, design ideas were generated based on the insights gained from brainstorm sessions. The four most promising ideas were presented to CoffeeBased, whose favorite was selected for further conceptualization. The final condiment organizer consists of a pre-assembled back frame, available with three, five or seven compartments. Condiment specific fronts can be selected by the user, based on their preference. Unfortunately, the necessary manufacturing method prevents the implementation of the optimized panel, thus a no-added formaldehyde plywood core is incorporated. Luckily, the aesthetic appearance does fit into the product portfolio of CoffeeBased, with its contour and surface engravements. Therefore, this thesis project does not only provide CoffeeBased with valuable sustainable panel solutions, but also a new product design for their product portfolio.