Vilnius is testing a new way to treat icy sidewalks, sprinkling them with coffee grounds instead of sand or salts.
Used coffee, donated by several cafes in the Lithuanian capital, is being used this week to make sidewalks less slippery on Gedimino Avenue, Totorių and Vokiečių Streets.
“It's a pilot project that we will try this week and we'll see if it's working,” according to Povilas Poderskis, the chief of administration at Vilnius Municipality.
With snowfall and below-zero temperatures continuing for weeks, sidewalks across the country are covered in ice and pressed snow, making them extremely slippery if untreated.
The city usually uses salts and sand to sprinkle streets and sidewalks, but these bring problems of their own. Salt is bad for trees and damages cars and shoes, while excessive use of sand clogs sewage pipes.
Ground coffee, meanwhile, could be an environmentally-friendly alternative.
Moreover, says Poderskis, there is plenty of it.
“Cafes and gas station chains say they can supply tons of [coffee] waste,” he says. “One chain that approached us said they could give five tons a month in Vilnius alone.”
However, some are sceptical that coffee could replace the commonly used mixes.
First, ground coffee is not soluble in water and does not melt ice, notes Rasa Šlinšienė, an associate professor at Kaunas University of Technology.
“Since coffee grounds are insoluble, they could make pavement less slippery, but I cannot imagine roads covered in coffee, [which would be] sticking to cars and shoes,” she says.
Moreover, storing large quantities of used coffee grounds would be a challenge – if they stay wet, there will be mold, and drying would require more effort.
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