Every year, the UK throws away roughly 9.5 million tonnes of food. That's enough to feed over 30 million people. But here's something you might not expect: some of that "waste" is finding its way into skincare — and it's brilliant for your skin.
Welcome to upcycled beauty. It's a growing movement where brands take by-products from the food and drink industry — spent coffee grounds, leftover fruit seeds, discarded olive stones, bruised bananas — and turn them into effective skincare ingredients. Nothing dodgy, nothing gimmicky. Just good ingredients that would otherwise end up in landfill.
What actually is upcycled skincare?
Upcycling in beauty means taking ingredients left over from food production and giving them a second life in skincare formulations. Think of it this way: when coffee beans are brewed, the grounds still contain antioxidants and fatty acids. When strawberries are juiced, the seeds get tossed — but they're packed with nourishing oils. Upcycled skincare rescues these materials before they hit the bin.
It's not about scraping the bottom of the barrel. These ingredients are genuinely effective and often richer in certain nutrients than their "fresh" counterparts.
The brand that started it all
UpCircle is widely regarded as the pioneer of upcycled beauty in the UK. Siblings Anna and Will Brightman launched the brand in 2016 after collecting used coffee grounds from London cafes and turning them into face and body scrubs. Since then, UpCircle has expanded to repurpose ingredients from the argan, tea, juice, date, apricot, and olive industries. They're B Corp certified, cruelty-free, and their packaging is 100% recyclable. A proper trailblazer.
Other brands doing it well
UpCircle isn't alone. BYBI Beauty, another London-born brand, uses upcycled ingredients in over half its range — including strawberry seed oil from the juicing industry and grapeseed oil from winemaking. Their Night Nutrition cream contains over 70% upcycled ingredients.
Canadian brand Three Ships uses upcycled coffee seed oil, blueberry extract, and bark from the Quebec lumber industry. And German brand C!RCLY is exploring how virtually any food waste material with skin benefits can be turned into cosmetic-grade ingredients.
Why it matters
This isn't just a feel-good trend. Food waste in the UK contributes roughly 25 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions annually. Every ingredient rescued from the waste stream is one less thing rotting in landfill and producing methane.
Shop upcycled skincare at Green Trading Store
We're proud to stock UpCircle at Green Trading Store. Our range includes six of their standout products, from the Organic Face Oil with Coffee + Rosehip (made with upcycled coffee oil, £19.50) to the Night Cream with Hyaluronic Acid & Niacinamide featuring antioxidant-rich upcycled blueberry extract (£21.50). We also carry their Peptide Serum, Face Moisturiser, Cleansing Milk, and Hydrating Toner — all priced between £19.50 and £24.50.
Upcycled beauty is proof that waste doesn't have to be wasted. Good for your skin, your pocket, and the planet.