The British brand UpCircle takes sustainability to the next level.
It's possible! Read the story of UpCircle Beauty here.
Founded six years ago by Anna Brightman and her brother Will Brightman, UpCircle, among other things, repurposes coffee grounds to make beauty products, adding ingredients such as chamomile infusions or a powder made from olive pits.
Every day, a bicycle courier from skincare brand UpCircle Beauty visits 25 cafes in London and collects around 100kg of coffee grounds that would otherwise be thrown away.
Half a million tonnes of coffee grounds are thrown away in the UK every year and the company says it has recycled 400 tonnes so far. How nice is that!
Younger people are “more open to the idea of the circular economy,” says Anna Brightman. “For obvious reasons, they are concerned about the future of our planet.”
The coffee grounds they use are not dirty or old at all. It contains a lot of antioxidants that benefit our skin.
Used coffee grounds work much better as a skincare ingredient than dry ones, says Barbara Scott-Atkinson, the formulator of UpCircle's products. "It is heated and it is moist. This makes it more suitable to use than regular ground coffee and greatly increases the antioxidant content."
The company sends the ingredients for reuse to its factory in Bridport on the south-west coast of England. The scent of citrus essential oils wafts through the factory as they are used to make a scrub. The production process of their scrub, for example, is simple: coffee grounds are mixed with sugar and essential oils, then whipped shea butter and a natural preservative are added.
“We make beauty products from ingredients that would normally be thrown away,” says Brightman. “We promote a circular economy by keeping raw materials in circulation for as long as possible and extracting maximum value from them.”
The transformation strengthens UpCircle's commitment to sustainability. Brightman says: “Beyond the products, we do everything we can to reduce our environmental impact across the business, whether that's cycling to work or having our business cards made from used coffee cups.
UpCircle's product prices range from €15 to approximately €22.
With the face serum and their soap bars as bestsellers.
Demand for soap bars is rising rapidly as consumers look for more natural, less plastic solutions,” says Brightman, emphasizing: “We believe our range has a truly accessible price point, reducing the step for the customer to move towards more natural beauty solutions.”
Finally, they say this: “We want the products to end up in as many hands and households as possible. We want to be the pioneers for natural and sustainable skin care to help people understand that beautiful skin does not have to come at the expense of the environment.”
Convinced? Discover our UpCircle Beauty range here!
