Importance of Sustainable Innovation for Bio Bean: A Case Study Analysis

This report analyzes the importance of sustainable innovation for Bio Bean, a UK start-up that has industrialized the procedures of recycling coffee grounds waste into advanced biofuels, biomass pellets, and biodiesel. It also examines how an individual can comply with sustainability ideals.

Individual case study
analysis

Contents
INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................................................3
TASK..........................................................................................................................................................3
PART A...................................................................................................................................................3
PART B...................................................................................................................................................7
CONCLUSION...........................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES............................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Sustainable innovation refers to making targeted transformations to an organization’s
commodities, services or procedures in order to accomplish the long-term social and ecological
advantages and at the same time generate economic advantages for the organization. Sustainable
innovation is good for business in many ways. On the one hand, it satisfies the consumers’ desire
for more sustainability. Additionally, organizations with sustainable innovation get economic
performance through environmentally and socially conscious functions. The outcome is a
cleaner, healthier, fairer and more stable world. A higher tide fueling economic development all
over the board. The focus company of this report is Organic Bean. The company bio bean which
has industrialized the procedures of recycling coffee grounds waste into advanced biofuels,
biomass pellets and in the near future biodiesel. The company was founded in 2013 and is
headquartered in London, UK (Cillo and et. Al, 2019). This report is based on the importance of
sustainable innovation for Bio Bean.
TASK
PART A
Research and critically discuss the importance of sustainable innovation using a real
example like the bio-bean?
Sustainable innovation states that the innovation that tends to improve the characteristics
of current technology, product and services regularly by giving more or enhanced value to the
organization’s mainstream customers. It is an approach that relates specifically to the way in
which it develops and evaluates the innovations which are supported to make sure the positive
and long-term outcomes and effects of innovative and emerging technologies. Through
sustainable innovation, Bio Bean can develop and offer novel commodities or services that
directly contribute to the accomplishment of sustainability. Bio-bean, a UK start-up and certified
B Corp, has made an nature friendly biofuel made from the waste of coffee to power London’s
double-decker buses (Afeltra, Alerasoul and Strozzi, 2021). Bio-bean also recycles used coffee

grounds into eco-friendly products like coffee logs and coffee pellets which are the other
alternatives to high-carbon fuels like charcoal briquettes and imported logs. Bio-bean utilizes a
material previously considered waste and contributes to a circular economy while making
approximately about $10 million in annual sales in 2020. Sustainable innovation isn’t only
creating new products or services. Bio bean can also innovate sustainably while offering present
commodities or services if they transform their procedures. Process changes can happen in many
regions, for instance, Design, production, marketing and even HR Some may think how these
sustainable innovations are apart from traditional forms of innovation. Because both traditional
and sustainable innovations involve the invention of new products, services or commodities.
Three core features characterize sustainable innovation.
 Sustainable innovations contribute and align with the sustainable companies. Sustainable
innovation deliberately targets in order to meet the requirements of today’s generations
without compromising the necessities of future generations. Bio Bean have included
problems such as human rights and climatic conditions in their innovation procedures.
Organizations committed to sustainable innovation go beyond the pursuit of sudden
profitability. They think on the basis of long-term and invest in technologies and people
for the future.
 Sustainable innovations needs systems thinking. When bio bean is committed to
sustainable innovation, their focal point was on their own company. Instead, they look at
the whole system of which they are apart from a broader perspective – including other
companies, the natural environment, and stakeholders and communities (Gottardo and et.
Al, 2021). They have a proper understanding of how their actions can impact the other
companies and vice versa.
 Sustainable innovations might be embedded in organic bean culture. In contrast to
traditional innovations, which are mostly carried out in a separate R&D department or
unit, sustainable innovations are more succeeded when they deeply embed in the culture
of the organic bean. If sustainability is not part of the firm’s culture, the pursuit of short-
term profitability will kill sustainability-oriented creative ideas and thoughts without
giving them enough period of time to mature.

Ultimately, bio beans can be successful if they are sustainable. Like (Costa, and Matias,
2020):-
 If organic beans are sustainable, they can attract talented employees. Compared to
their unsustainable competitors. If bio bean is sustainability-oriented, then they can
bring more skilled people. Recently, in a Deloitte survey of Millennials and Gen Zs,
49% of peopletold that their personal ethics was a major role in their career choices.
 Bio Bean believes that interest groups create more as well as effective patent. In other
words, a sustainability orientation results to more and better innovation. When Bio
Bean is committed to sustainable innovation, you can think broader and gain
knowledge from various perspectives. You get stats and solutions remotely, e.g. from
other industries and stakeholders.
 Bio bean values sustainability and is more resilient in comparison with its rivals.
Most importantlyin a turbulent world. Sustainability-oriented organizationssurvive
crises better, exhibit fewer price fluctuations and generate more sales in the long term
than those who don’t have sustainability orientation (Kneipp, and et. Al, 2019).
Achieving sustainable innovation takes time, commitment and effort. Sustainable
innovation is divided into three categories: operational optimization, changes in organization,
and system building.
 Operational optimization – bio bean can improve its operational processes without
fundamentally changing its business model. They can find ways to do the same things
better and reduce their negative environmental and social impacts (e.g. by using
renewable energy and reducing packaging). This can be done relatively easily by adding
environmental and social criteria to existing quality or profit criteria. This approach is
sometimes referred to as eco-efficiency.
 Organizational Transformation – For larger changes, Bio Bean can develop disruptive
new products and services that serve societal needs and benefit the environment. This
move goes beyond doing less damage and focuses on doing good by doing new things.
Bio bean can also see sustainability as a business opportunity as the biofuel made from
coffee waste shows how bio bean can be part of this kind of sustainable innovation. To

achieve organizational transformation, Bio Bean needs to radically change its mindset,
away from better work and towards new things.
 Systems Building – The most advanced form of sustainable innovation involves
collaborating with others to have a positive impact on people and the planet. Biobean can
see itself as part of an ecosystem and recognize that sustainability cannot be achieved by
a single organization. They aim to do good by doing new things with others. These
system builders are expanding their thinking beyond the boundaries of the organization to
include partners in previously unrelated industries as well as marginalized actors (Guo,
and et. Al, 2020).
Sustainability can be beneficial for bio beans. Sustainability can drive innovation by creating
new design constraints that identify how key resources such as energy, carbon, water, materials
and waste are utilized in commodities and procedures. It also advises the regions where
innovation can pay particular dividends. These five resources are ubiquitous throughout the
supply chain of bio bean, and the potential to raise efficiencies and lessen the value for these
resources is significant. In the past, they were often not treated as primary design constraints. It
is changing now, and how bio bean tries to overcome these new design limitations by offering
the same level of performance and value while consuming less resources, can be the key to its
prospects. Decisions taken with these constraints in mind can identify while a organization takes
a disruptive or sustainable path in terms of innovation. A attention on lessening the waste and the
more usage of critical resources or finding alternatives can be a strong driver for the creation of
innovative commodities and operating models when all risks and opportunities are properly
considered. It is not advisable to do sustainable innovation as a short-term endeavour. Leaders of
the bio bean industry should help their firm in develop an effective and reliable strategy and plan
for sustainable innovation. The three Ps that make this possible are as follows:
 Purpose: Having a goal that goes beyond increasing the profitability. Those purposes
will result in the success of the process of sustainable innovation. The leaders of bio bean
should weave sustainability into the DNA of the bio bean. This is the only way to
encourage the thinking where sustainability becomes an integral part of the business
(Abbas and et. Al, 2020).

 Process: A successful innovation planning procedure might involve a particular
sustainability necessities and performance targets. It is important to be endured that they
integrate sustainability into innovation planning.
 Partnership: making strong bonds outside the business brings fresh innovative ideas and
concepts of Working with your partners and that can aid in accelerating the present
projects or even initiate new ones.
PART B
Examine your current lifestyle and write a reflective document on how you could comply
with the sustainability ideals?
Solar energy is the perfect energy because the sun always shines. Every day we depend
on solar energy, so why not use solar energy to our advantage? I can harness solar energy for my
lifestyle by having items like solar panels installed on my house. With solar panels, I will be able
to generate my own clean energy and reduce my dependence on the fossil fuels that currently
power my home. Tremendous advances in solar technology have been made in recent years and
now several countries are jumping on the solar bandwagon (Hernandez and et. Al, 2018). China
is on track to become the world’s largest solar market as it seeks to diversify away from coal,
which currently powers 70% of its economy. A second way to use solar energy for my lifestyle
would be to use the sun as a light source. During the day I tend to keep all my window blinds
closed so I’m wasting energy turning on my lights when I should just open my blinds and let the
sun do the natural job of lighting my home for me. I can apply biodiversity to my lifestyle to
make it more environmentally sustainable by becoming more aware of my environment and my
surroundings. Biodiversity have various species on earth, the genes consists of the ecosystems
they live in, and the ecosystem procedures of energy flow and nutrient cycling that sustain all
life. I can make my lifestyle greener by making better purchasing decisions. These things are so
very important and I really hope that humanity is wise enough to realize this before it’s too late
(Ciasullo, and et. Al, 2020). The human species has done more harm than good in our meager
existence and I hope we can fix that. It’s a lifestyle to conserve daily utilities. Sustainable living
stems from the sustainability of a sustainable environment. People take the ecosystem for
granted. The people are only surviving because the ecosystem thrives. People look at nature as a
decorative element in their lives, but not because they are dependent on that. The actual trust is

that they survive because the ecosystem does. If the ecosystem is harmed in any way, then the
people will suffer only. For instance, deforestation, people are cutting down trees and making
buildings, malls etc. and those trees are the only source of oxygen and without them habitats
would be vanished. These trees are habitats whose disruption will result into harmful conditions
such as climate change, global warming and many more. The issue is that the people are
destroying their ecosystem (Bacinello, Tontini and Alberton, 2020). There will be a time when
the human beings will suffer at the expense of their own doing, this is the time to take action for
the sustainability of the planet.
CONCLUSION
From the above report, it has been concluded that the companies with sustainable
innovation achieve economic performance through naturally as well as socially conscious action.
The outcome is a cleaner, healthier, fairer, and more stable world. Sustainable innovation is
important for bio bean as they can also innovate sustainably while delivering the
presentcommodities or services if they transform their procedures, they can invent and offer
novel products or services, they can attract talented employees. For enabling the sustainable
innovation in the firm the process, purpose and partnership is important factors. An individual
can comply with the sustainability ideals by using solar technology and applying biodiversity in
their lifestyles.

REFERENCES
Books and journals
Cillo, and et. Al, 2019. Understanding sustainable innovation: A systematic literature review.
Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 26(5), pp.1012-1025.
Afeltra, Alerasoul, and Strozzi, 2021. The evolution of sustainable innovation: from the past to
the future. European journal of innovation management.
Gottardo, and et. Al, 2021. Towards safe and sustainable innovation in nanotechnology: State-
of-play for smart nanomaterials. NanoImpact, 21, p.100297.
Costa, and Matias, 2020. Open innovation 4.0 as an enhancer of sustainable innovation
ecosystems. Sustainability, 12(19), p.8112.
Kneipp, and et. Al, 2019. Sustainable innovation practices and their relationship with the
performance of industrial companies. Revista de Gestão.
Guo, and et. Al, 2020. Classifying green technologies for sustainable innovation and investment.
Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 153, p.104580.
Abbas, and et. Al, 2020. Sustainable innovation in small medium enterprises: the impact of
knowledge management on organizational innovation through a mediation analysis by using
SEM approach. Sustainability, 12(6), p.2407.
Hernandez and et. Al, 2018. Sustainable innovation through management systems
integration. Journal of cleaner production, 196, pp.1176-1187.
Ciasullo, and et. Al, 2020. Multi-level governance for sustainable innovation in smart
communities: an ecosystems approach. International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal,
16(4), pp.1167-1195.
Bacinello, Tontini, and Alberton, 2020. Influence of maturity on corporate social responsibility
and sustainable innovation in business performance. Corporate Social Responsibility and
Environmental Management, 27(2), pp.749-759.