One third of all food in the UK is wasted, yet nearly one third of people have a skincare routine. That’s one huge opportunity to save the planet through skincare. UpCircle make sustainable skincare products from ingredients that would otherwise be discarded. It all started when one pair of siblings discovered that more than 500,000 tonnes of coffee grounds that are consumed each year in the UK alone are sent to landfill (where they produce methane). On discovering this, my brother Will and I decided to start collecting coffee grounds from cafes across London and transforming them into skincare products. 

But it’s not just coffee! UpCircle have come a long way since then and now upcycle more than 50 by-product ingredients – upcycled oat husks, rose petals, hibiscus acids and orange peel wax are now all being rescued for their latest launches.