Sustainability
A coffee festival is a logistics operation on a deadline. Here is where the volumes arise, what we do about them — and what we have not solved.
The order of magnitude
A festival is a logistics operation on a deadline
The quantities below come from İstanbul 2024, one location across four days. They were counted, not estimated — and they show where a festival of this size actually has an effect.
120.000
Cups served
Four days, one location. The number reuse stands or falls on.
25.000 l
Filtered water
Treated centrally and distributed to the stands, instead of delivered in bottles.
9.650
Single-use bottles
What still came up despite the filter plant. This is the figure that has to come down.
7,5 t
Milk
The second largest flow of goods after coffee — and the one with the shortest shelf life.
120.000
Cups
As single-use that is 120,000 pieces of waste in four days. As reusables it is around 12,000 cups going round twelve times.
25.000
Litres of water
Filtered on site. Delivered in bottles it would be roughly 17 pallets and two lorry runs.
7.500
Kilos of milk
A cold chain across four days. The item where a planning error turns straight into spoilage.
9.650
Bottles
The single-use remainder that came up despite the filter plant. In Dortmund it is the first number we push down.
The cycle
One cup, twelve rounds
Reuse is not a label but a route with four stations. If one of them jams, the whole system falls back to single-use — so here is how it is meant to run.
01
One deposit, not one per stand
The cup belongs to the ground, not to the roastery. Whoever pays a deposit on the first drink does not pay it again all day — and carries the cup from stand to stand instead of collecting a new one at each.
02
Swap, don't ask them to wash
At the next counter the used cup is swapped for a clean one. For the visitor that is one movement; for the roastery it removes the need for a sink of their own.
03
Return at every serving point
No central return desk with a queue in front of it at closing time. Every point that serves also takes back — including on the way out.
04
Twelve rounds per cup
At twelve rounds across four days the ground needs about 12,000 cups instead of 120,000. The wash line runs continuously for that; its power and water use belongs in the same calculation.
Side by side
What the difference actually is
Four columns on one scale. Two show the İstanbul figures, two show what is to apply in Dortmund. Where we have no substantiated value there is a zero, not a wish.
Cups across four days
120.000
Single-use
One cup, one drink. What is left is residual waste — coated card cannot be sensibly separated once there has been milk in it.
12.000
Reusable
The same number of drinks, a tenth of the cups. In exchange: a wash line, staff and deposit logistics — both sides belong in the same calculation.
Single-use bottles across four days
9.650
Bottles today
What still came up as single-use bottles at İstanbul 2024 despite a central filter plant.
0
Bottles as the goal
Free drinking water points and refillable bottles at the stands. Whether we reach zero is something we will say afterwards, not before.
Water
25,000 litres, not one pallet
Coffee is more than ninety per cent water, and a festival uses it in quantities you can either deliver or treat. We treat: a central filter plant feeds the stands, and drinking water points stand free of charge across the ground. What is not delivered as a result appears in no balance sheet — it simply never happens.
Six fields
What we are working on, and how far along
For Dortmund 2027 these six points are a requirement on ourselves and on every exhibitor. The bar shows how far a field has come — not as an invented percentage but as a status: out to tender, under negotiation, written down.
01
Reuse
A deposit cup system for the whole ground, not per stand. Single-use only where hygiene rules allow nothing else. At 120,000 servings it is the single biggest lever.
StatusOut to tender
02
Water
A central filter plant instead of delivered bottles — in İstanbul that was already 25,000 litres. Drinking water points across the ground, free and signposted.
StatusConfirmed
03
Waste
Separated collection from build-up onwards, not from opening. Coffee grounds go to a processor rather than into residual waste — at these quantities that pays for itself.
StatusOut to tender
04
Energy
Mains power instead of generators wherever the hall allows it. Espresso machines are continuous consumers; their standby times are managed through the hall plan rather than left to chance.
StatusDepends on the venue
05
Getting there
The ticket doubles as a transport pass — the single most effective lever there is, because travel is the largest item at public events. Talks are running, agreement is outstanding.
StatusUnder negotiation
06
Supply chains
Whoever exhibits discloses origin. No certification requirement, but proof on request — that applies to large brands and small roasteries alike.
StatusIn the handbook
Energy
The continuous consumer sits on the counter
It is not the stage that draws the power but a hundred espresso machines on standby. Mains power instead of generators wherever the hall allows it, and heat-up times managed through the hall plan rather than left to chance. It is unspectacular and it is what makes the difference.
Supply chains
Whoever exhibits can say where the bean comes from
We ask for no certificate — certificates cost money, and small roasteries with excellent sourcing often have none. We ask for information: origin, buying route, price level, on request. That applies to the large brand exactly as it does to the two-person operation.
Open and settled
What stands — and what we deliberately do not claim
Three points where we name no figure: carbon footprint, public transport share and the proportion of regional suppliers. All three depend on the venue and the transport authority. They arrive here once they are measured — not as a target beforehand.
Carbon footprint of the event
Without a venue, hall services and travel routes any figure is guesswork. We measure it in the first edition and publish it afterwards.
Still open
Share arriving by public transport
Depends on the combined ticket and on service frequency. Measured through ticket data rather than estimated.
Still open
Share of regional suppliers
Stand construction, technical services and food are only awarded with the venue. The share is settled after that.
Still open
Coffee grounds to a processor
Collection points from build-up onwards, picked up daily. At these quantities that is not a showcase project but logistics.
Planned
Free drinking water points
Spread across the ground and signposted. Settled regardless of the venue.
Confirmed
Proof of origin for exhibitors
On request, without a certification requirement. Becomes part of the stand conditions.
Confirmed
On the ground
Where the quantities actually arise
Shots from İstanbul and Ankara. The same routines in the same places — in Dortmund under German waste and hygiene law.
