Recirculate Systems is tackling the global crisis of single-use packaging by making reuse as seamless as disposable models. Born from the frustration of operating a sustainable coffee business, the team realised that existing reuse schemes (frequently burdened by apps and user friction) could not scale. Their solution: to link reusable items to transactions using RFID, enabling instant refunds when items are returned. By embedding reuse into familiar payment flows, Recirculate removes behavioural barriers and creates an infrastructure capable of supporting circularity across sports venues, cafés, retail and beyond.

CircularInvest has played a key role in preparing Recirculate for investment and growth, helping align its IP, technology roadmap and commercial strategy with investor expectations. According to Founder & CEO Ali Hood, this support has provided credibility and opened doors to new partners. His main advice to other innovators: get systems and documentation investor-ready early, and think beyond pilots toward systems change.

Looking ahead, Recirculate aims to eliminate single-use plastics in high-volume venues, collaborate with communities to normalise reuse in daily life, and gradually power the back-end of the reuse economy at a national and international level. The company has worked on scaling deployments across the UK in 2025, finalising hardware production and deepening integrations with major payment providers to enable widespread reuse.

Ultimately, Recirculate’s ambition is to create a universal protocol for reuse, an invisible infrastructure that makes circularity effortless. As Ali Hood notes, innovation must not only be sustainable, but simple: “If your users need to change behaviour, you're already at a disadvantage.”