Coffee Grounds Up-cycled

Access to tech and creative industry employment

Central LA City of Los Angeles (select only if your project has a citywide benefit)

Pilot or new project, program, or initiative (testing or implementing a new idea)

GroundUp addresses the urgent challenge of disposable consumer culture and the lack of sustainable reuse options for heavy coffee ground waste from over 800 LA cafes. These grounds currently end up in landfills, producing methane and weighing down sanitation trucks—at a time when city and state budget cuts are reducing sanitation staff and services. As a licensed general contractor familiar with traditional materials like plywood and formaldehyde-based adhesives, I see a clear need for safer, circular alternatives. Using a mold injection machine and extruder, we blend marine polypropylene from OceanWorks—whose cleanup efforts rely on manufacturers like us—with coffee grounds to create durable goods and building materials. GroundUp also empowers entrepreneurs to create custom molds for new products and helps established brands shift from overseas production to a local, sustainable solution. With LA2028 and city procurement on the horizon, GroundUp is ready to scale impact and jobs.

This grant will support the launch of GroundUp’s pilot manufacturing and public showcase program in Los Angeles. We will collect coffee grounds from local cafes and blend them with marine polypropylene sourced from OceanWorks using a 70/30 mix. These materials will be processed through our mold injection machine and extruder to produce wall panels and consumer products. The grant will fund two showcase installations: custom planter benches in East Hollywood (approved by the City’s Adopt-a-Median program) and decorative wall panels inside a boutique hotel in Culver City. These high-visibility sites will demonstrate the product’s versatility and appeal to potential partners, from local businesses to city procurement programs. The grant will also allow us to engage LA-based entrepreneurs and brands to design new products using custom or existing molds. GroundUp aims to prove the local, circular manufacturing model works — environmentally and economically — right here in Los Angeles.

If GroundUp is successful, Los Angeles will become the first major city to upcycle two local waste streams—coffee grounds and marine plastic polypropylene—into durable, circular products made locally. With 800 cafes generating 2,920 tons of spent grounds annually, our model will reduce landfill methane and lighten sanitation loads, saving the City money. But the impact doesn’t stop there: by spotlighting OceanWorks and partnering with them, we envision a future where a local nonprofit or youth program collects ocean-bound plastic across LA County, pelletizes it, and sells it as a new income stream—like CRV for bottles and cans. GroundUp can spark not just new products, but new incentives for cleanups, new green jobs, and a localized plastic economy. From wall panels to Olympic merch, LA could lead the nation in regenerative, urban manufacturing powered by its own waste.