GoBean nominated for Green Product Award

The growing environmental impact of single-use packaging – especially in the takeaway coffee sector – has become a pressing global issue. Billions of disposable cups and sleeves are used each year, most of which are difficult to recycle due to mixed materials and short usage cycles. At the same time, large quantities of coffee grounds are discarded daily as waste, despite their valuable material properties. Rethinking both resource use and product lifecycles is therefore essential to developing more sustainable consumption systems.

Against this backdrop, the project “GoBean” by HfG Offenbach design students Aranza V. Sanchez and Song Yeon Lee has been nominated for the Concept Award at the Green Product Award. The project was developed at the Institute for Material Design at HfG Offenbach in cooperation with the Höchster Porzellan Manufaktur (supervised by Prof. Dr. Markus Holzbach).

“GoBean” is a 100 percent compostable, ergonomically shaped coffee cup sleeve that offers a sustainable alternative to conventional disposable sleeves. It is made from locally collected coffee grounds and natural binders and is both water- and heat-resistant. The material fully decomposes within approximately three weeks or can be reused for planting. The business model incentivizes cafés to supply coffee grounds for production, giving waste a second life.

Since 2013, the Green Concept Award has recognized outstanding products and services that have not yet been launched on the market. Certified by the Green Future Club and supported by the IKEA Stiftung, the award honors forward-looking innovations that address ecological, social, and functional challenges through exceptional design.