Aisling’s Journey: 2nd-Year Student & Co-founder of Bean Around

Aisling Wood is a second-year student pursuing a Bachelor of Business Studies at DCU Business School. Passionate about sustainability and innovation, Aisling and her sister Sadhbh co-founded Bean Around, a student-led, circular economy enterprise focused on repurposing used coffee grounds into revitalising exfoliating bars, body scrubs and other value-added products.

Aisling tells us about her business, their mission and their success to date:

We are challenging the prevailing linear, single use, throw away business model that is contributing significantly to current global environmental issues. We operate on the principle that nothing should be considered waste.

In Ireland, a country of coffee lovers, adults drink an average of three cups a day. This passion for coffee is evident from the approximately 1,600 coffee shops operating in Dublin alone. To keep up with demand, Ireland imported 17,000 tonnes of coffee beans in 2023. This generated 17,000 tonnes of used coffee grounds of which an estimated 75% ended up in landfill. Not only does this food waste use up landfill space and contribute to a ‘throwaway society’, as these coffee grounds decompose, they emit uncontrolled CO2 and methane into the atmosphere, gases that significantly contribute to climate change. The amount of coffee that is consumed in Ireland is projected to significantly increase in the coming years which will only result in more waste and more environmental deterioration.

This issue is not just local; it’s global. Every year, the world produces 6 million tons of used coffee grounds, which is about the weight of the Great Pyramid of Giza. Like in Ireland, most of these coffee grounds are discarded, leading to further environmental degradation.

Bean Around’s philosophy is simple: rethink the problem, reimagine the solution, and redesign the product. Our goal is to shift the way people view waste, turning what was once discarded into value-added, eco-friendly products. At Bean Around we are turning this vision into reality through our current line of exfoliating bars and body scrubs, demonstrating that the circular economy can be part of our everyday lives.

Bean Around’s exfoliating coffee bars were the first non-food product to win a place on the SuperValu Food Academy Programme. We are also currently participating in the Lidl Kickstart Programme and will be supplying all Lidl stores throughout the North and Republic of Ireland come September. We have been fortunate to work with big names such as EY, Google, Butler’s Café, Java Republic, and more and also with smaller coffee shops such as JJ Darboven, Bell Lane Roastery, and The Jungle. You can also find our products in the DCU Campus Store.

We were the first Irish team to make it through to the European Finals of the Hult Prize Competition, a global student enterprise competition that focuses on world changing ideas that align with the UN SDGs!

We also recently won the LEO High Achieving Merit Award at Enterprise Ireland’s 2024 Student Entrepreneur Awards.

We believe that if we re-think what constitutes waste, and re-purpose this waste into a useful product we reward consumers and businesses for joining the circular economy. Changing the world one cup of coffee at a time!

We look forward to following Aisling’s journey and the success of her business Bean Around!