The next time you buy a cappuccino or latte you may be surprised to discover where the coffee grounds used for your daily pick-me-up ultimately end up.

Because a new recycling scheme has been launched which will see some of the 250,000 tonnes of used coffee grounds the UK produces every year repurposed and put on sale in a garden centre near you.

Currently, the bulk goes straight into landfill - although some is collected as food waste for composting or taken to anaerobic digestion plants.

The scheme, launched in Canterbury by waste management operator Countrystyle Recycling, will see the grounds from retail chains, hotels, visitor attractions and independent cafés and restaurants collected each week.

The used coffee grounds - collected in 40-litre caddies provided to the firm’s customers - are then taken to Countrystyle’s sister company in Cambridgeshire where they will be processed and turned into coffee pellets for horticultural use.

Coffee grounds are a great fertiliser for plants thanks to being a slow-release source of nutrients.

Launching next year, the pellets will be available to buy in garden centres and sold to horticulturalists.

For each tonne of coffee collected and turned into coffee fertiliser pellets, the carbon saving is 580kgs of CO2 compared to sending it to landfill - the equivalent of driving 1,400 miles in a typical family car.

Martin Heathcote, chief executive of Countrystyle Recycling, explained: “The response to our coffee recycling scheme from the hotel, leisure and hospitality sector has been tremendous and we look forward to rolling out the service across Kent over the next few months.”

The scheme was launched at Café No35, in St Margaret’s Street, Canterbury. Its owner, Anna Carpenter said: “It was very straight forward to join the scheme and the dedicated caddy makes it really easy to recycle our coffee grounds. I’d encourage more businesses to take part.”

Lisa Carlson, chief executive of Canterbury Business Improvement District (BID), added: “This initiative is an example of one business making a difference to the environmental efforts of lots of businesses.”