At the end of June, sustainability leaders, packaging professionals, recyclers and reporters gathered to mark a circularity milestone: the launch of Deepnest by Greyparrot.
In an event during London Climate Week, we unveiled the world’s first waste intelligence platform built for brands, and hosted a panel of experts to discuss the future of data-driven, circular packaging.
Our CEO Mikela Druckman opened the evening by addressing an audience representing the entire packaging value chain — from brands like MARS, Costa and PepsiCo to packaging leaders like Amcor and Dow, recyclers at Biffa, Suez, Veolia, Grundon and enablers of systems change like WRAP, Systemiq and Innovate UK as well as climate tech investors like regeneration.vc.
Mikela called for a more connected and transparent packaging ecosystem:
Deepnest is a combination of everything that we’ve learned and heard from stakeholders across the recycling and packaging value chains, and tonight is not just about a product launch – it’s about collaboration.”
- Mikela Druckman, CEO of Greyparrot
Deepnest was designed to forge stronger links between packaging producers and recyclers, giving brands a way to measure their products’ performance in real-world waste systems — and make improvements with recovery in mind.
Why a transparent packaging ecosystem is vital
We developed Deepnest at a time when detailed post-consumption packaging data has never been more urgently needed. A though-provoking panel discussion brought together leaders from waste, packaging, technology and journalism to offer some important context for the launch.
The Startup Coalition’s Charlie Mercer moderated the discussion, kicking things off by asking the panellists about a key waste sector challenge that innovation could help address.
A key theme soon emerged: the urgent need for data-driven clarity in a complex, often misunderstood system.
Oliver Franklin-Wallis, award-winning reporter and author of Wasteland, finds that a lack of transparency undermines faith in the recycling system:
If you look at many of the controversies surrounding packaging and waste, it’s often when people feel they’ve been misled.”
- Oliver Franklin-Wallis, award-winning reporter and author of Wasteland
For Amy Hooper, Biffa’s Head of Innovation, there is an opportunity to highlight an innovative sector that isn’t always perceived as such:
Historically, a lot of people have thought about waste as a linear economic model, and mistrust has played into scepticism about what the sector can do. But there's incredible innovation happening that's transforming the sector into something truly exciting - particularly in driving the transition to circularity.”
- Amy Hooper, Head of Innovation at Biffa
Amcor’s Sustainability and Circular Economy Director Mark Roberts has seen a lack of clarity hinder packaging circularity – even when those involved intended to promote sustainability:
I see a lot of good people that are environmentally conscious making really terrible decisions about the type of packaging that they use. The challenge is making sure we’re using the right materials for the right products.”
- Mark Roberts, Circular Economy Director, AMCOR
The panel cited compostables and composite drinks cartons as examples of well-intentioned products that don’t align with the UK’s actual recycling infrastructure, and often end up in landfills. Instead, they argued for standardised packaging made from materials perform well in practice.
Thankfully, it’s now possible to determine what those materials are.
Driving post-consumption clarity with waste data
When asked for his thoughts on the clarity challenge, James Piper — author of The Rubbish Book, co-founder of Ecosurety and co-host of the popular Talking Rubbish podcast — echoed Rish and Mikela’s opening comments:
Collaboration is really important. Organisations like Greyparrot, who sit in the middle of these brands and waste management companies really allow that collaboration to happen, which is exciting.”
- James Piper, Author of The Rubbish Book
Ambarish explained how Greyparrot identified the need to bridge the gap between those brands and recyclers:
We have been gathering waste data on a massive scale for five years. It’s not just waste professionals that have been challenged by a lack of data — brands are also making multi-million dollar decisions with very little insight into their packaging’s end-of-life.
The waste industry bears the burden of criticism about circularity and waste, but we need to look further up the value chain. Not to blame or punish anyone, but to enable them.”- Ambarish Mitra, Co-founder of Greyparrot
With systems like Deepnest, we’re able to empower upstream stakeholders with downstream data — and those brands and packaging producers are already asking for it:
Brands and packaging producers are enthusiastic about end-of-life
Amy identified that same opportunity for constructive collaboration, and has already encountered brands that are keen to engage:
I’ve been seeing these conversations change over time — brands and retailers are saying ‘we need to introduce something recyclable, so how can we do it?
That's a fantastic conversation, because it benefits everyone. Platforms like Deepnest make that conversation so much easier – you can go to them with data and say that if you make this change, we can see the concrete impact.”- Amy Hooper, Head of Innovation at Biffa
James, too, encourages growing interest in recyclability at the top of the value chain, and a desire for data that can support sustainability claims:
I think the interest here is for brands to say ‘I want ownership of my waste. Wherever it ends up, I want to know what happens to it and I want to be able to confidently counter arguments about things not being recycled.”
- James Piper, Author of The Rubbish Book
Deepnest: A turning point for packaging
The panellists agreed that regulation — while not perfect — had encouraged stronger links than ever between recyclers, brands and packaging producers.
For Ambarish, who noted that “the people in this room represent the entire value chain”, the launch event itself was a clear example of those stronger links in action.
He linked Deepnest to Greyparrot's vision of a world where every piece of waste is valued as a resource, and marked the launch as a pivotal moment in the circular transition:
We could have applied computer vision to 30 different industries, but we chose waste because we care about it. Our first intention is to see waste being understood and valued as a material asset.
We believe this data, if used well, will enable collaboration that allows us to make real change. Deepnest can truly be a turning point for the waste industry, and the packaging value chain.”- Ambarish Mitra, Co-founder of Greyparrot
Learn how Deepnest works here
