co-cre8, circularity by design
Understand · Consulting

The circular consultancy for businesses that need it to work.

Most teams we meet know roughly where the problem is but not what to do first. Reports have not led to action, procurement and waste sit in separate systems, and the sustainability commitment has no delivery plan behind it. We are operators who run live circular programmes at scale, so the work ends in a baseline, a prioritised set of actions and named next steps.
Request a waste and materials review
Our services

Six ways in.

Six connected capabilities, not a fixed sequence. Most engagements start wherever the evidence is thinnest, then draw on the rest as the picture builds.

  1. 01

    Bespoke programmes

    Multi-year, multi-party circular programmes at industry scale. The Cup Collective is the reference example.

    • Governance & partner alignment
    • Independent measurement
    • Public-private funding
    • Long-term operations
  2. 02

    Board-level advisory

    Circular strategy that reads at exec level and works at operating level. Roadmaps, KPIs, and the operating model to hit them.

    • 5-year roadmaps
    • Investor & board packs
    • Regulation horizon scanning
    • M&A due diligence
  3. 03

    Waste & material audits

    Rigorous, site-by-site baselines. We turn opinions into data you can act on.

    • On-site audits
    • Composition analysis
    • Cost per stream
    • Compliance gap analysis
  4. 04

    Material flow reviews

    Trace every material through your business. Find substitutions, redesigns and simplifications before disposal is even a question.

    • Input/output mapping
    • Overordering & shrinkage
    • Substitution shortlists
    • Scenario modelling
  5. 05

    Packaging & procurement

    Design out waste at the buying decision, working with your suppliers and specifications, not around them.

    • Packaging redesign briefs
    • Supplier engagement
    • EPR & PPT modelling
    • SKU-level analysis
  6. 06

    Regulation & compliance

    We know the UK and EU packaging and waste regulation stack inside out. We help you plan for it, not just react to it.

    • EPR readiness
    • Simpler Recycling
    • Plastic Packaging Tax
    • Deposit return schemes
What you leave with

Findings you can put a decision against.

Each engagement is scoped so it ends in something usable, whether that is a single site baseline or a multi-year programme design.

  1. 01

    A baseline of what enters the business and what later becomes waste

  2. 02

    Quick wins separated from the changes that need investment

  3. 03

    Recommendations prioritised on cost, impact and feasibility

  4. 04

    Evidence your buyers, operations and board can all work from

  5. 05

    A business case or roadmap where the change needs one

  6. 06

    A route into delivery, so the plan does not stop at the recommendation

Where the evidence points to a saving or a material reduction, we set out the opportunity and the assumptions behind it rather than a guaranteed figure.

co-cre8 waste and recycling programme in operation at a Lloyds Banking Group site

Operators, not slide decks.

Track record

Programmes and clients.

The work behind the practice. Programmes we have designed, delivered and continue to run.

Pioneering the 'bin for life'

Lloyds Banking Group

Pioneering the 'bin for life'

The jointly developed rBin, made from UK-sourced recycled material and designed to be refurbished rather than replaced, is now in full production with more than 250 units rolling out across 16 office sites.

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On track to improve recycling

TransPennine Express

On track to improve recycling

Ten branded Mobile Cup Recycling Stations, approved by the Department for Transport, were introduced at Hull, Scarborough and Cleethorpes to segregate cups, lids and liquids at source.

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The Cup Collective

Huhtamaki & Stora Enso

The Cup Collective

co-cre8 designed and now manages The Cup Collective, the first industrial-scale paper cup recycling programme in Europe, launched in Brussels in December 2022.

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HQ goes green

Greenpeace UK

HQ goes green

Four mobile rBIN units, British made from 70% UK-sourced recycled material and branded to Greenpeace's own guidelines, with staff noticeably more engaged with the recycling system.

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Getting fit for recycling

Anytime Fitness

Getting fit for recycling

A 1.6m wide branded mobile Recycling Station is on trial at head office, with hugely encouraging feedback and waste collection processes already adjusted to suit the segregated streams.

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Tub to Pub

Greene King

Tub to Pub

Over five years, the historical Tub to Pub scheme collected 26,253kg of plastic and raised £23,908 for Macmillan Cancer Support. The public collection site went offline in August 2026.

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Cup recycling takes off

Glasgow Airport

Cup recycling takes off

Seven three-tube wall-mounted cup bins were placed within retail outlets, and more than 36,000 cups were collected between October 2019 and March 2020.

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Keeping cup recycling on track

Chiltern Railways

Keeping cup recycling on track

Ten mobile three-tube bins, designed over six months with the Department for Transport, launched at Marylebone on 12 February as the first UK transport hub to recycle cups. Around 150,000 cups have been captured.

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Ready to make the material visible?

We start with the evidence: what enters your business, what it costs, and where circular improvements can pay back. Operators, not slide decks.

Book a material flow reviewSee the work