Background
Coffee culture has had a profound effect on the UK high street over the last twenty years. Back in 1999, there were less than 600 branded outlets but our thirst for coffee, coupled with an explosion in on-the-go drinking, now means we now have a choice of around 26,000 coffee shops and a market that is worth £4.5 billion pounds a year.
Issues
The takeaway beverage cup, over 10 billion of which are used each year in the UK, is a phenomenal piece of packaging design. It is, however, extremely hard to recycle. Although most of the cup is made from paper, the plastic lining, that keeps the cup from going soggy, is so closely bonded to the paper that only very specialist facilities can process them.
These vast numbers of cups also quickly clog up bins due to their voluminous shape, creating higher waste disposal costs. Due to consumer confusion, these cups also contaminate recycling bins since consumers mistakenly think they can be treated like other paper products.
Solution
Despite the vast numbers of used cups being disposed of each year, businesses and consumers were blind to the issue. Furthermore, coffee shops, cup manufacturers and the waste industry chose to ignore the problem, even though it had the potential to damage their reputation and sustainability credentials should it be fully exposed.
co-cre8, however, recognised an opportunity to offer a service that would not only segregate and collect cups at source, but would also recycle them into new products, thereby diverting them away from landfill or incineration. It would provide businesses with waste disposal cost savings as well as improving their recycling rates.
Results
In June 2014, co-cre8 launched ‘Simply Cups’; the world’s first cup collection and recycling service.
The launch of the service prompted Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall to feature cup waste in his BBC program ‘War on Waste’, which brought nationwide attention to the issue throughout the whole of the media. Simply Cups has not only changed consumer behaviour, by stimulating the growth of reusables, but has also forced coffee shops, the supply chain, the waste industry and even government to accept that action needed be taken.
Simply Cups is now recycling over 15 million cups each year, from over 100 business, including many high-profile names such as Johnson + Johnson, Zurich, Channel 4, Nestle, Shell and Sodexo. It has developed a range of highly functional and durable recycling bins, suitable for any environment or setting, together with a collection of products, all made from used cups, including the world’s first reusable cup.
As well as the pioneer of cup-recycling in the UK, Simply Cups has expanded internationally and is now operational in Australia, New Zealand, Belgium and the Netherlands.
With eighteen other service providers now offering cup collection services, this is absolute proof that disruptive innovation is an effective means of changing the status quo.
In 2019, the Simply Cups membership scheme was fully acquired by Simply Waste Solutions, which in turn was acquired by Biffa plc, the largest operator of waste management and recycling services to industry in the UK.
“We lost count of the times were told ‘it couldn’t be done’, ‘there’s no value in it’ or, worse still, ‘there’s no appetite from businesses or consumers“
says Peter Goodwin, Co-founder of co-cre8.
Keshari joined the co-cre8 team in 2022 and is responsible for the daily management of the business finances including financial reporting, purchase ledger, sales ledger and building relationships with customers and suppliers.
Wayne joined the co-cre8 team in 2022 and brings more than two decade’s worth of operational and commercial experience in the food service packaging and waste management sectors. With co-cre8’s portfolio of three business divisions, Wayne spreads his unrivalled skillset across multiple activities including for our Honest brand, internal Waste and Recycling Stations and System Design partnership projects. Wayne plays a key role in ensuring co-cre8’s operations are commercially viable, building and maintaining great relationships with suppliers, ensuring the smooth success of projects and keeping a smile on everyone’s face!
We welcomed Hannah to the team in January 2022 to grow and develop our Built Environment business division. Hannah brings a wealth of skills to the team including her fantastic communication and eye for detail.
Katie joined the team in December 2021, and plays a key role in supporting the Sales and Marketing Manager with all sales and marketing activity across the co-cre8 and Honest brands. Katie’s main responsibilities include pro-actively developing and reactively managing business-to-business sales opportunities, processing orders, general customer service and supporting with the creation and delivery of marketing campaigns.
Prior to co-founding co-cre8 in 2019, Peter spent 10 years as a UK Director of Closed Loop Environmental Solutions. With a passion for recycling and, as one of the UK’s leading exponents of promoting more circular solutions, Peter created and delivered many pioneering industry projects, most notably the Simply Cups scheme.
James has over 20 years’ experience in the waste and recycling industry. Starting with just one second hand truck, he founded and developed Simply Waste Solutions into a thriving, profitable business with a £35m turnover. In 2020, James decided that he was ready for new challenges and took Simply Waste to a successful exit, selling to Biffa plc for £40m.
Natalie joins the co-cre8 team with extensive knowledge and experience in waste, recycling, and circular business models, with her speciality in Finance. For the last 17 years, Natalie has worked, and was a shareholder, in a start-up, high growth to exit waste and recycling business, with 15 years spent at board level.
Georgia joined the team at co-cre8 in 2020 and is responsible for developing the business through creative thinking and effective communication via sales and marketing channels.
Rachel originally joined the co-cre8 team in 2019 as Customer Service Specialist for Simply Cups. Her role has since evolved, following the launch of the Built Environment range, where she now heads up all logistics including supplier liaising, order processing and general operations of the business.