Mobilising Upcycle Your Waste

Making and finding value in waste

Connecting Users and Producers of business waste to allow upcycling

The aim of Upcycle Your Waste is to redirect waste and encourage its use for something of equal or greater value.

Get involved if you feel you could use rubbish in your business to improve or develop new products or services. The Soft Marketing Testing event has now taken place and the dynamic purchasing system (“DPS”) tendering page is live to 18 March 2022. The tendering process is called the Norwich Upcycling Exchange.

The Norwich Upcycling Exchange is now set up and will allow you to potentially access the rubbish of the 300 firms we surveyed to allow users to use their rubbish in your business or in the creation of products and services. The Norwich BID is leading this project. We are now connecting waste producers with waste users to help them find value in business rubbish from Norwich city centre.

The next phase in 2022 of Upcycle your Waste involves:
• Connect “Producers” and “Users” to upcycle waste
• Enable SMEs to jointly move towards upcycling their waste

The main parties involved in upcycling are:

Producer

SME generating waste and contributing to the scheme.

Getting business rubbish transformed into something new.

User

Organisations or individual users of SME waste.

Submit an application to join the DPS (tender)

Norwich Upcycling Exchange

The Norwich Upcycling Exchange is a new initiative from Norwich BID and the next phase of the Upcycle Your Waste project.

It is an initiative to connect waste producers with waste users, and find the value in rubbish and SME waste. The scheme aims to help businesses upcycling in the City scale up and allow more seamless upcycling to occur.

The full tender description is “The Norwich Business Improvement District (BID)’s Upcycle Exchange Pilot Project, funded by 2 Seas Interreg, supports SMEs to transform their waste products, parts and materials into new products, parts or materials of at least equal and preferably better technical, economic and social quality without burdening people and the environment with hazardous and harmful substances. Further information on the project is available at https://edale.app/upcycle-your-waste. This project looks to establish a dynamic purchasing system to introduce users of waste for upcycling and recycling purposes to producers or suppliers of the waste.” Submit an application at https://www.mytenders.co.uk/search/show/search_view.aspx?ID=FEB163780.


Formal expressions of interest to participate in a procurement process are invited.

Organisations that would like to join the DPS register on the tender platform via the button above and submit an expression of interest and we shall contact you, email Norwich BID’s Procurement Consultant, Faithorn Farrell Timms LLP, via procurement@effefftee.co.uk.

The Norwich Upcycling Exchange is a Norwich Business Improvement District (BID) project, funded by the EU as part of Interreg 2 Seas.

Frequently Asked Questions

What materials can be upcycled and factsheets about different materials?

Supporting research and resources

Upcycling Waste Cardboard Factsheet
Upcycling Waste Carpet Factsheet
Upcycling Waste Coffee Cups Factsheet
Upcycling Waste Coffee Grounds Factsheet
Upcycling Waste Demo Lenses Factsheet
Upcycling Waste Glass Factsheet
Upcycling Waste Orange Peel Factsheet
Upcycling Waste Pallets Factsheet
Upcycling Waste Plastic Wrap Factsheet
Upcycling Waste Textiles Factsheet
Upcycling Waste Hops Factsheet
Waste Producers – Research Summary

Why get involved?
For Users, to access the waste of hundreds of small busineses we have surveyed in Norwich city centre.

For Producers, to redirect your business rubbish towards Users that can use it to create something of equal or greater value.

How much waste is involved?
Norwich BID conducted almost 300 waste audits in local companies over the past year. A Waste Factsheet has been prepared for the most common materials. Register to recieve the factsheets.
How are regulations and laws taken care of?
Norwich BID has an active role in helping businesses operate in the city. We have our own governance processes and are working with specialists on regulating this particular project as we progress it. Part of the Soft Marketing testing is to learn about interest and demand.
Can you share some examples of upcycled products?
There are numerous upcycling producers. Here are companies across the six regions of Upcycle Your Waste that have made something awesome from waste: Coral Eyeware, Jessica Mae glassware.
Where can I learn more information on Upcycling?
There is comprehensive information on upcycling on https://www.norwichbid.co.uk/what-we-do/voice-for-business/upcycle-your-waste/.

Get involved

Express an interest to be involved in the programme. If the tender platform looks overbearing complete the form below and we shall be in touch to help.

The name of your business.
Postcode where your business principally operates.
Your corporate email address.

By completing and submitting this form you are agreeing to your data being shared with Norwich BID and the Edale Enterprises Limited (Edale) as delivery partner for Upcycle Your Waste. You are also agreeing to receive email communications from Norwich BID and Edale, although you may unsubscribe at any time, only regarding Upcycle Your Waste project. We need to gather some contact information which will be managed according to Norwich BID’s Privacy Policy. For more details of how Edale process your data, please read their Privacy Policy.

Understanding Upcycle Your Waste

Upcycling takes your waste and turns it into something better. Upcycling is more energy efficient than recycling: rather than breaking down the object, and starting from scratch, upcycling takes your rubbish, and improves it. So your waste becomes something which is worth something of equal or greater value: better for the planet, and better for your bank balance.

We’re working with Small & Medium Enterprises from across Norwich are being helped to build a circular economy via “Upcycle Your Waste”. This EU initiative is free to all participating businesses. Embrace the opportunity to save money on waste costs, and increase sustainability. Join the Norwich Upcycling Exchange.

There are four themes involved in business upcycling.

Sharing wasteTrading wasteUpcycling end of life materialsRecycling end of life materials
It is possible for some businesses to share waste as a micro activity by using waste as input into a new process.

Products may reach the end of useful life for one consumer but still be usable in the same, or a different form, for another user.

Materials that are at the end -of-life for one business are collected and processed into another product, or for another use, by a second business.

Materials that are at the end-of-life for one business are collected and processed into another product. Products made from recycled plastics could be considered for this project.

Read our full Business Case for Upcycling here.