What is Upcycle your Waste?

Upcycle Your Waste is a FREE ‘pilot’ project in Kent dedicated to accelerating the adoption by SMEs of circular business cases that transform company waste flows into valuable resources. Upcycling in the context of this project means transforming waste(d) materials or parts into secondary resources as products, parts or materials of at least equal and preferably better technical, economical and societal quality, without burdening people and the environment with hazardous and harmful substances. This will, in turn add value and reduce the use of virgin materials in the process.

Our focus is on organising and supporting local SMEs to collectively procure and implement services for upcycling of their waste streams (waste as a resource) to replace existing non-circular practices (landfill, incineration, re-/down cycling). Participation in the pilots and all related activities will be free and open to all SMEs throughout the project.

We aim and expect to generate innovative solutions from diverse suppliers and buyers with an upcycling perspective, mainly outside the ‘traditional’ waste management industry e.g. a company collecting all textile waste from an area to produce new fabrics.

It will also consider the likely scenario that multiple companies offer complimentary solutions for the various predominant waste streams in a pilot area. These pilots will demonstrate how SMEs can be enabled to adopt circular business cases by building on collective analysis of waste streams, procurement and contracting of waste management services at the business area level.

Who should attend?

*Are you a business/organisation that currently segregates your waste streams e.g paper, plastics, glass, metals, electronics, wood, organic/food, rubber, textiles, aggregates for traditional waste management and/or recycling purposes only?

*Would you like to know more about the opportunity to collaborate with other businesses and organisations to commercialise your waste into secondary resources as products, parts or materials – helping your bottom line in the process?

*Would you like to learn from others already working towards ‘Industrial Symbiosis’, sharing of knowledge and expertise in this area to have a positive impact on our critical resources and create an important cornerstone of your customer facing ESG policy?

What will it cost me?

Upcycle Your Waste is funded by the European Union. We know how precious time away from your business is, let’s see what value we can add back in by assessing the options with you.

How do I get involved?

Simply book onto our Phase II event taking place on Tuesday 11th October 10.00am -12.00pm at East Kent College in Folkestone. 

Upcycle your Waste – Be Part of Kent’s Circular Economy… Tickets, Tue 11 Oct 2022 at 10:00 | Eventbrite