To build our Tap & Return bins to make reusable cup returns effortless, drive return rates, and enable a circular economy.
Who Are Circulayo?
We're a small, Derby-based team building green, circular technology solutions that enable scalable reuse systems, reducing single-use plastic waste and carbon emissions across the UK and beyond.
Since 2021, we've recognised that for long-term reuse solutions to work, they need to fit seamlessly into everyday operations and consumer habits. That insight is where Circulayo began. Today, our award-winning solutions have scaled reuse systems across the UK and Europe, providing the technology and data to make reuse realistic at scale.
We're not guessing at the solution. We've spent years testing technology in the real world, building a clear picture of what does and doesn't work.
The Tap & Return Idea
Currently, it is estimated that between 3.2 billion and 4 billion bottles are either landfilled, incinerated or littered each year. In October 2027, the UK is launching a nationwide Deposit Return Scheme to boost recycling rates of single-use plastic bottles and aluminium cans to 90%+ by 2030.
However, recycling still treats the item as a disposable. Whereas reuse is the smarter solution, Tap & Return is how we replace single-use with reusable solutions.
The idea is simple. Once you're finished with your reusable cup, find any Tap & Return bin, drop it in, and tap your payment card or phone. Your deposit is refunded on the spot. No app. No token. No queue. Just a tap.
Our bins are designed to work across festivals, coffee shops, universities, sports venues, and city-wide networks; connecting the reusable economy wherever it exists.
What makes Tap & Return unique? Instant deposit returns. Cost-effective infrastructure. Scalable for businesses of any size, in any industry.
Our Vision
We envision a future where we move away from the disposable culture to a reusable culture, where reuse is as easy as single-use. Behaviour change doesn't come from asking people to try harder; it comes from implementing the right infrastructure needed to remove friction and barriers entirely.
How We'll Use the Raised Money
We're now ready to build. The funds we raise here will go directly towards manufacturing our bins so we can get them into the real world, generating real return data, and enabling a circular economy for all.
This project closed unsuccessfully on 12th June 2026