咖啡渣里“长”出绿色大生意Green business grows from coffee grounds

“绿筑未来，智汇厦门”活动现场，嘉宾为台上演讲鼓掌。（厦门日报全媒体记者 卢剑豪 摄）

创新成果发布推介阶段，詹姆斯·斯基德莫尔上台介绍咖啡废弃物高值化利用创新案例。（厦门日报全媒体记者 卢剑豪 摄）

9月7日，作为第二十六届中国国际投资贸易洽谈会的重要配套活动之一，2026鼓浪屿论坛·“绿筑未来，智汇厦门”活动在厦门国博中心会议中心举办。来自国际组织、行业协会、金融机构、高校智库及企业界的中外嘉宾围绕城市绿色转型深入交流。厦门市领导张志红、黄世忠出席活动。

在这场以“共塑城市的可持续未来：远见、创新与实践”为主题的活动上，一批从厦门自贸片区生长出来的绿色创新成果集中亮相——从咖啡渣变身功能材料，到绿色微电网AI智能体技术，再到链接全球的ESG服务体系。这些成果显示，厦门绿色产业的相关实践正在从概念走向落地，并逐步向规模化、可复制方向推进。

咖啡渣逆袭 从废弃物到产业链

“全球每年生产超过1000万吨咖啡。大部分咖啡渣都被直接丢弃。”岐北通用品牌可持续总监、碳及科技（Caffon）品牌与传播总监詹姆斯·斯基德莫尔（James Skidmore）在活动期间表示。

在厦门，这个被大多数人随手丢进垃圾桶的“湿乎乎”的东西，正在被重新定义。

活动现场，詹姆斯分享了咖啡渣由废弃物向再生材料转化的创新实践，相关产品已应用于净水滤芯、空气净化、纺织面料等多个领域。

但技术突破只是第一步。詹姆斯认为，大规模应用的关键在于产品本身：“如果碳及科技能够帮助企业创造出更具可持续性且真正更好的产品，它就将实现大规模应用。”

他给出了具体的数据支撑：在一个应用案例中，碳及科技使再生包装的强度提高了40%；肯德基使用的空气过滤板性能更好、使用寿命更长；在纺织品领域，碳及科技提供了有效的异味控制功能。“可持续产品还必须同时是更好的产品。消费者不会仅仅因为某样东西‘绿色’就持续购买性能不佳的产品。”

中国科学院城市环境研究所副研究员刘学蛟长期深耕农林生物质资源化利用领域，主攻靶向净水炭材料研发，手握十余项炭新材料及成套生产设备专利。他全程主导了咖啡渣基功能炭材料从小试、中试到工业化量产的全流程工艺优化。

他认为，咖啡渣经系统性验证后，可以被转化为高价值的炭材料，用于环境治理、新能源、工业、医疗等诸多领域，高度契合国家“双碳”与循环经济发展战略，且立足于厦门千亿咖啡产业链绿色升级需求，可深度配合厦门市千亿咖啡产业图谱规划。

国际标准“加持” 厦门参与制定行业标准

就在论坛现场，一个更具产业意义的动作同步启动——咖啡渣回收利用碳足迹评价行业标准制定工作正式拉开帷幕。中国科学院城市环境研究所、建发生活资材、碳及科技、中国果品流通协会咖啡豆分会、厦门市深蓝可持续发展创新研究中心、国家碳计量中心（福建）、SGS通标等单位共同参与。

该标准将依托厦门成熟的产业实践，填补咖啡渣制备活性炭领域碳足迹评价标准的空白，推动咖啡产业向高值循环化、规范化、低碳化方向发展。

从“厦门实践”到“行业标准”，这条路径并非偶然。厦门自贸片区此前已出台《中国（福建）自由贸易试验区厦门片区“十五五”实施自贸试验区提升战略专项规划》，明确提出“更高水平推动绿色低碳转型发展”，并将建设厦门自贸全球可持续发展创新中心作为完善绿色服务支撑体系的重要抓手。该中心于2026年3月26日正式启动。启动以来，已相继落地全球首张脱碳管理审定声明（ISO 50100）、全球行业首张循环经济核查声明（ISO 59004）等一批标杆项目。

绿色产业创新 “厦门矩阵”吸引世界

咖啡渣循环利用只是厦门绿色产业版图的一个切面。论坛期间，一批具有创新性和示范意义的可持续发展项目集中发布。

高湿高热地区绿色微电网AI智能体创新技术应用是另一项引人注目的成果。厦门大学能源学院副教授、智熔绿动（福建）信息科技有限公司首席科学家景锐分享了该创新技术应用。该项目面向东南沿海高湿、高热等气候特征，将人工智能与绿色能源系统深度融合，通过多智能体协同对光伏、储能、充电桩及负荷进行自主优化调控，有效提升可再生能源消纳能力和区域能源系统韧性。未来，该项目将与厦门自贸全球可持续发展创新中心ESG服务体系深化对接，赋能区域能源绿色转型。

国际组织也看到了厦门的优势。世界可持续酒店业联盟基金会总裁兼首席执行官Glenn Mandziuk在论坛上表示，厦门兼具“海上花园”的城市禀赋与以绿色材料、零碳园区、循环经济为支撑的发展模式，为酒店价值链低碳转型提供了“理想土壤”。世界可持续发展科学院院长周晋峰则提出，厦门应发挥海洋生态与科技创新优势，打造新材料研发、海洋治理、人工智能应用与生态文明建设的国际合作新高地。

九八花絮

绿色会议的种子纸

台上，来自国际组织、行业协会、金融机构、高校智库及企业界的中外嘉宾围绕城市绿色转型、循环经济等议题展开讨论。台下，几件具体的“小事”让“可持续发展”从一个被谈论的概念，变成了一场可感知的现场实践。

会场所有饮用水均采用可循环包装。主办方有一个明确的心愿：活动结束时，这个会场不留下任何一只一次性塑料瓶。

最特别的是议程单。这张特殊的议程单由种子纸印制。活动结束后，参会者可将其揉碎、埋入土中、浇水，纸张中的种子会发芽生长，尝试改写一份纸质议程的常规命运——从“被翻阅后丢弃”转变为“成为某种生长的开始”。

这些事，都不算大，但每一处细节都在尝试回答同一个问题：一场会议如何减少对环境的负担。而答案，就藏在这些具体的、可被执行的选择里。

（厦门日报全媒体记者 吴晓菁）

At the "Green Building the Future, Wisdom Gathering Xiamen" event, guests applauded the speech on stage. (Photo by Lu Jianhao, Xiamen Daily all media reporter)

During the stage of promoting innovative achievements, James Skidmore took the stage to introduce innovative cases of high-value utilization of coffee waste. (Photo by Lu Jianhao, Xiamen Daily all media reporter

On September 7th, as one of the important supporting activities of the 26th China International Fair for Investment and Trade, the 2026 Gulangyu Forum · "Green Building the Future, Smart Gathering Xiamen" event was held at the Xiamen International Expo Center Convention Center. Chinese and foreign guests from international organizations, industry associations, financial institutions, university think tanks, and the business community had in-depth exchanges on urban green transformation. Xiamen city leaders Zhang Zhihong and Huang Shizhong attended the event.

At this event with the theme of "Shaping the Sustainable Future of Cities Together: Vision, Innovation, and Practice", a group of green innovation achievements grown from Xiamen Free Trade Zone were showcased - from coffee grounds to functional materials, to green microgrid AI intelligent agent technology, and to a globally connected ESG service system. These achievements show that the relevant practices of Xiamen's green industry are moving from concept to implementation, and gradually advancing towards scale and replicability.

Coffee grounds counterattack from waste to industrial chain

Over 10 million tons of coffee are produced globally each year. Most of the coffee grounds are directly discarded, "said James Skidmore, Brand Sustainability Director and Brand and Communication Director of Carbon and Technology (Caffon) at Qibei General Motors during the event.

In Xiamen, this "damp" thing that most people casually throw into the trash can is being redefined.

At the event, James shared his innovative practice of converting coffee grounds from waste to recycled materials. The related products have been applied in multiple fields such as water purification filters, air purification, textile fabrics, etc.

But technological breakthroughs are only the first step. James believes that the key to large-scale application lies in the product itself: "If carbon and technology can help businesses create more sustainable and truly better products, it will achieve large-scale application

He provided specific data support: in an application case, carbon and technology increased the strength of recycled packaging by 40%; The air filter plates used by KFC have better performance and longer service life; In the field of textiles, carbon and technology provide effective odor control functions. Sustainable products must also be better products. Consumers will not continue to purchase products with poor performance just because something is' green '

Liu Xuejiao, associate researcher of the Institute of Urban Environment of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, has been deeply engaged in the field of agricultural and forestry biomass resource utilization for a long time, focusing on the research and development of targeted water purification carbon materials, and holds more than 10 patents for new carbon materials and complete production equipment. He led the entire process optimization of coffee grounds based functional carbon materials from small-scale and pilot testing to industrial mass production.

He believes that after systematic verification, coffee grounds can be converted into high-value carbon materials for use in various fields such as environmental governance, new energy, industry, and healthcare. This highly aligns with the national "dual carbon" and circular economy development strategies, and is based on the green upgrading needs of Xiamen's billion dollar coffee industry chain, which can deeply support Xiamen's billion dollar coffee industry map planning.

International standards' support 'Xiamen's participation in the development of industry standards

At the forum, a more significant industrial action was launched simultaneously - the development of industry standards for carbon footprint evaluation of coffee grounds recycling and utilization. The Urban Environment Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Construction and Development Living Materials, Carbon and Technology, Coffee and Bean Branch of China Fruit Circulation Association, Xiamen Dark Blue Sustainable Development Innovation Research Center, National Carbon Measurement Center (Fujian), SGS and other units jointly participated.

This standard will rely on the mature industrial practices in Xiamen to fill the gap in carbon footprint evaluation standards for the preparation of activated carbon from coffee grounds, and promote the development of the coffee industry towards high-value recycling, standardization, and low-carbon direction.

The path from "Xiamen Practice" to "Industry Standards" is not accidental. The Xiamen Free Trade Zone has previously issued the "China (Fujian) Pilot Free Trade Zone Xiamen Zone" 15th Five Year Plan for the Implementation of the Pilot Free Trade Zone Upgrading Strategy ", which clearly proposes to" promote green and low-carbon transformation and development at a higher level ", and regards the construction of the Xiamen Free Trade Global Sustainable Development Innovation Center as an important lever to improve the green service support system. The center was officially launched on March 26, 2026. Since its launch, a number of benchmark projects have been implemented, including the world's first decarbonization management certification statement (ISO 50100) and the world's first circular economy verification statement in the industry (ISO 59004).

Green Industry Innovation 'Xiamen Matrix' Attracts the World

The recycling of coffee grounds is just one aspect of Xiamen's green industry map. During the forum, a group of innovative and demonstrative sustainable development projects were released in a concentrated manner.

The innovative application of AI intelligent technology for green microgrids in high humidity and high heat areas is another remarkable achievement. Jing Rui, Associate Professor of the School of Energy at Xiamen University and Chief Scientist of Zhirong Green Dynamic (Fujian) Information Technology Co., Ltd., shared the application of this innovative technology. This project targets the climate characteristics of high humidity and high heat along the southeast coast, deeply integrating artificial intelligence with green energy systems. Through multi-agent collaboration, it autonomously optimizes and regulates photovoltaics, energy storage, charging piles, and loads, effectively enhancing the renewable energy consumption capacity and regional energy system resilience. In the future, this project will deepen its integration with the ESG service system of Xiamen Free Trade Global Sustainable Development Innovation Center, empowering regional energy green transformation.

International organizations have also recognized Xiamen's advantages. Glenn Mandziuk, President and CEO of the World Alliance for Sustainable Hotels Foundation, stated at the forum that Xiamen combines the urban endowment of a "garden on the sea" with a development model supported by green materials, zero carbon parks, and circular economy, providing an "ideal soil" for the low-carbon transformation of the hotel value chain. Zhou Jinfeng, President of the World Academy of Sustainable Development Sciences, proposed that Xiamen should leverage its advantages in marine ecology and technological innovation to create a new highland for international cooperation in new material research and development, ocean governance, artificial intelligence applications, and ecological civilization construction.

98 behind the scenes footage

Seed paper for green conferences

On stage, Chinese and foreign guests from international organizations, industry associations, financial institutions, university think tanks, and the business community discussed topics such as urban green transformation and circular economy. Offline, several specific 'small things' have transformed' sustainable development 'from a discussed concept into a tangible on-site practice.

All drinking water at the venue is packaged in recyclable materials. The organizer has a clear wish: at the end of the event, there will be no disposable plastic bottles left at this venue.

The most special thing is the agenda sheet. This special agenda sheet is printed on seed paper. After the event, participants can crush it, bury it in the soil, and water it. The seeds in the paper will sprout and grow, attempting to rewrite the conventional fate of a paper agenda - from "discarded after being flipped through" to "becoming the beginning of some kind of growth".

These things are not big, but every detail is trying to answer the same question: how to reduce the burden on the environment in a conference. And the answer lies within these specific and executable choices.

(Xiamen Daily Full Media Reporter Wu Xiaojing)