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Where the neighborhood concrete is being tested
The pilot is a footpath in Gisborne, Victoria, undertaken by RMIT University and Macedon Ranges Shire Council. RMIT described it as a world-first coffee-concrete footpath trial in its May 2024 report. The project brings the material out of laboratory research and into a real construction setting, where it can be evaluated alongside a control mix.
This is not the same project as the Pakenham Roads Upgrade. RMIT reported that Major Road Projects Victoria and contractor BildGroup used concrete containing coffee-ground biochar as a partial replacement for river sand in that separate road-infrastructure deployment. The Pakenham report describes a different application, not an extension of the Gisborne footpath.
How coffee waste becomes part of concrete
Raw spent coffee grounds are not simply stirred into cement. In the process studied, the grounds are pyrolysed—heated in a low-oxygen environment—to produce biochar. That biochar can then replace some of the concrete’s fine aggregate, such as sand.
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The distinction matters because unprocessed grounds contain organic compounds that can interfere with cement hydration, the chemical reaction that allows cement paste to set and harden. In the 2023 experimental study, the authors found these compounds hindered hydration and significantly hampered compressive strength. Their approach was to process the grounds into biochar before incorporating them into concrete. The 2023 study in the Journal of Cleaner Production reports the experimental findings.
What the strength claim does—and does not—show
The often-cited 29.3% compressive-strength enhancement belongs to a specific laboratory formulation reported by the 2023 study’s authors. It used coffee biochar produced at 350°C. It is not a general guarantee for concrete containing coffee waste, and it should not be presented as the measured gain in the Gisborne footpath.
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The field evaluation is reported in a separate 2025 peer-reviewed paper. The authors describe independent testing of slump, compressive strength, compressive strength of cored slabs, flexural strength and shrinkage, with results compared against a control mix. The article also identifies a production constraint: the commercial-scale biochar producer’s pyrolysis equipment could not operate at the laboratory’s optimal 350°C because of operational constraints. The 2025 field-trial paper frames this as a limitation encountered in translating laboratory work to real construction.
The available figures establish the laboratory result and the field study’s test scope, but not a numerical strength gain for the footpath. Without a verified field result, the lab’s 29.3% figure cannot be transferred to the neighborhood installation. Nor does a construction trial by itself establish long-term durability or readiness for widespread use.
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Why production consistency matters
A concrete mix depends on repeatable ingredient properties. If commercial equipment cannot reproduce the temperature used to make the laboratory biochar, the resulting material may differ from the one behind the lab result. That makes production conditions, biochar consistency and supply as important as the mix design when evaluating whether the approach can scale.
RMIT’s 2024 footpath report mentions up to 15% sand replacement and up to 30% strength improvement in the broader research context. Those institutional summary figures are not interchangeable with the 29.3% result from the 2023 experimental paper, and neither should be treated as the field footpath’s measured outcome.
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- CONCRETE BONDING AGENT: Enhances strength and adhesion
- LIQUID: Mix with concrete, sand mortar and cement mixes
- ADDITIVE: This product is added to mixes - it is not intended to be used on its own
- ACRYLIC FORTIFIER: Increases resistance strength, adds resistance to cold temperatures
- COVERAGE: Varies by concrete, sand, or mortar mix, refer to mixing chart
Why construction researchers are pursuing coffee waste
RMIT reported in 2024 that Australia generates 75 million kilograms of ground coffee waste annually and that most ends up in landfill. This is a figure from RMIT’s report, not a current independently verified national total. Converting some of that waste into a construction material could create another use for it while replacing a portion of quarried fine aggregate.
The idea remains under development. In a November 2025 update, RMIT described ongoing work with supply-chain partners to move the research toward commercial applications and said the work was expanding to other forms of organic waste. RMIT’s update signals continued development, not confirmation of broad availability as a standard concrete product.
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- CONCRETE BONDING AGENT: Enhances strength and adhesion
- LIQUID: Mix with concrete, sand mortar and cement mixes
- ADDITIVE: This product is added to mixes - it is not intended to be used on its own
- ACRYLIC FORTIFIER: Increases resistance strength, adds resistance to cold temperatures
- COVERAGE: Varies by concrete, sand, or mortar mix, refer to mixing chart
What the Gisborne trial means for builders
The footpath pilot shows that coffee-ground biochar concrete can be produced and used in a real construction context; it does not establish that every mix will be stronger, cheaper or more durable than conventional concrete. For builders, engineers and specifiers, the key questions are whether the biochar can be supplied consistently, how much fine aggregate it replaces, how the fresh mix behaves, and how strength and shrinkage compare with an appropriate control under the intended conditions.
Until field results and production specifications support a particular application, coffee-biochar concrete is best understood as an emerging material being evaluated—not a drop-in product with a universally proven strength advantage.
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