Nature provides us with amazing ingredients, and Anna and William Brightman saw an amazing opportunity to incorporate coffee grounds collected from cafes and coffee shops in London and bring them back to life through beauty products. Their circular beauty line, UpCircle, prevents waste and promotes a more sustainable future. Read on to find out more about their venture and journey:
Can you tell us a bit more about yourself, and why you and your brother decided to start UpCircle?
It all started about four years ago now. My brother William (my co-founder) used to make his own coffee each morning using a cafetière. Living in central London he didn’t have a garden and so didn’t have enough plants he could use the coffee grounds on, so instead, he was simply throwing them away. He asked his local coffee shop what they did with their waste coffee and was shocked to hear that they were producing so much that they had to pay the council to have it removed and disposed of on landfill sites.
He decided it was a great starting point for a business idea, but wasn’t sure what that idea was – that’s where I came in. Throughout my teenage years I wanted to be a makeup artist so always had a keen interest in beauty and skincare. I knew that coffee had loads of great skincare benefits, so… lightbulb moment! Why not repurpose the coffee into sustainable circular skincare products?
We began our journey collecting coffee grounds from one coffee shop, we now collect from 100 coffee houses across London – our list is always growing!
Can you tell us a bit more about UpCircle and what your brand’s mission is?
At UpCircle, we elevate leftover natural ingredients, bringing them back to life as beauty products your skin will love. Our products are natural, organic, vegan, cruelty-free, palm oil-free, sustainable, handmade in the UK and housed in 100% recyclable packaging. But the key point of difference between us and other brands is that each of our products is made with a core repurposed ingredient. “Natural” is the new “normal” – we go a step further with our waste-fighting formulations. What other beauty brand can claim that their products have saved literally hundreds of tonnes of valuable ingredients from ending up in landfill?
Why is it so important that more brands follow this circular economy concept?
Because it prevents waste and promotes a more sustainable future.
UpCircle has now saved 150 tonnes of coffee from being sent to landfill. Based on our current growth rates we estimate that we will have saved an additional 1000 tonnes in the next 5 years. Our first batch of soaps made from repurposed chai tea spices saved 5 tonnes of spices from being thrown away. It’s worth mentioning that we’re a team of 3, all under the age of 30! So, imagine if more individuals and brands adopted a more cyclical approach?
There is no shortage of ingredients that need to be rescued. For example, in the UK we send 500,000 tonnes of coffee waste to landfill per year, where it rots to produce methane. Every day we’re contacted by coffee shops all over the country asking if we can collect their grounds. Over time our collection area will expand, but there’s clearly no shortage! We were shocked to find out that 1/3 of all food produced is wasted. It’s one of the most wasteful industries in the world meaning that it gives companies like us a huge number of ingredients from which to do better things. Food ingredients can have powerful effects on the body – inside and out – so there’s an opportunity for us to create new products from food ingredients that’re being discarded yet still have much to offer.
The UK produced 23,000 tonnes of fruit stone waste in 2012 alone, so we knew something had to be done there too. So… we released our “fruit stone range”, within which each product is made with the powder of a different discarded fruit stone!
What can customers look forward to in 2020?
Next up, we’ll be saving and transforming flower petals from florists and wedding venues. Again, our love of flowers is not likely to wane any time soon, so we have an abundance of ingredients to work with – an endless supply. The only limit to by-product beauty is a lack of imagination! In fact, we have 6 products set to launch in 2020!
What’s great is that now that we’ve made a name for ourselves as the skincare brand bringing the circular economy to the beauty industry, we have businesses and individuals coming to us with their leftover natural ingredients asking if we can cook up a circular skincare solution. We’re always ready to take on the challenge!
