Circular 11: Transforming Plastic Waste into Purpose

Tackling Low-Value Plastic Waste

For Oxford University Anthropology graduate Ben Gibbons, the roots of Circular 11 stretch back to his time as a post-graduate working on international development and waste management projects in Nepal, prior to 2020. Despite community engagement and education, Ben found that without an economically viable way to collect and repurpose plastic, most waste ended up in landfill. “It didn’t matter how skilled or educated people were,” he says. “If there was no value in collecting the waste, it didn’t get collected – it was either dumped in the river or worse, was burned.”

Frustrated by these systemic limitations, Ben and co-founder Connor Winter set out to develop a solution that worked where advanced recycling infrastructure didn’t. Circular 11 was born out of this challenge—transforming hard-to-recycle, low-grade plastic into functional materials for the construction sector. The Dorset-based company creates sustainable alternatives to traditional materials like timber in fencing, decking and similar outdoor applications, offering enhanced durability and mitigating carbon in the process. Circular 11 has pioneered the combination of proprietary manufacturing technology and machine learning algorithms to define the optimal formulation for waste streams, making recycling and carbon tracking a seamless process.

The team’s early research revealed that the same sustainability issues applied globally, including in the UK, where much of this plastic still goes to incineration. Circular 11’s mission became clear: to reimagine waste as a valuable resource and to scale manufacturing solutions that are both economically and environmentally sustainable.

Collaborating with Brunel University London

Circular 11’s innovation journey accelerated when Ben joined the Brunel University London RIEm Programme. Fully-funded by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, RIEm is a strategic initiative designed to support SMEs to access innovation funding for collaborative research and innovation (R&I), validate a technology or solution and grow their enterprise.

“Following a connection at National Highway Innovation showcase, we linked the company with Brunel experts developing cutting edge processing for recycled material—unlocking R&D funding opportunities and enabling innovation in novel materials to drive new product development and market expansion. We are excited to be working with Circular11 on their innovation journey,” says Hitesh Patel, Business Development Manager, RSDO, Brunel.

“We had been successful with Innovate UK funding,” Ben notes. “But we wanted to level up and attract more investment. Brunel offered us the right environment to explore deeper research, form partnerships and to strengthen our technical credentials.”

Ben chose Brunel University London for its leading reputation in machine learning, fibre reinforcement and polymer formulation research—areas directly aligned with the company’s mission to transform low-value plastics into sustainable building materials.

With Brunel’s support, almost immediately after joining the RIEm programme, Circular 11 submitted a joint research bid worth £450,000, as part of a wider £2.5 million multinational R&D project, which could further advance the technology by combining waste plastic with food and agriculture byproducts to make stronger, stiffer composites for advanced applications. This would be in addition to the £1.1 million the company has already raised (£650,000 in public funding and £450,000 from private investors). The outcome of the bid is expected within the next six to nine months. The funds will specifically be used to investigate the application of advanced machine learning techniques to identify real-time changes to fibre and plastic feedstocks and adapt the manufacturing line in real-time.

“We’d already seen success with Innovate UK funding,” says founder Ben Gibbons, “but we needed access to larger collaborative opportunities and a stronger consortium. RIEm offered both the scale and the depth of experience we were looking for as well as access to the network.”

A Fast-Track to Research Leadership

One of the biggest surprises for Ben was the pace of progress. “Within a month of joining RIEm, I was leading the European research bid (Smart Eureka Advanced Manufacturing). Our Brunel supervisor, George Fern, had flagged the opportunity, and the university's network helped us build a cross-border collaboration involving five Turkish companies. That simply wouldn’t have been possible without RIEm.”

The programme’s design gave Ben the confidence to go beyond passive participation. “I expected to be an apprentice to a research process. Instead, I was supported to take the lead much earlier than anticipated.”

For Ben, the project turning point was realising how quickly the right environment can elevate a founder’s capabilities. “Being trusted to lead, supported by academic and industry experts—it reframed what was possible for us, both technically and strategically.”

Circular 11’s journey with Brunel University London exemplifies the potential of deep research partnerships to accelerate innovation, unlock funding and amplify impact across global markets.

Impact and Growth: Technical Leadership Meets Entrepreneurial Agility

Being partnered with a respected institution like Brunel University London strengthened Circular 11’s position in the competitive funding landscape. It demonstrated the company’s ability to engage with large-scale, high-quality research initiatives. Ben also speaks highly of the RIEm Programme’s impact on his own personal development as a research leader and project manager. “It’s dynamic and collaborative,” he says. “You’re not just passively learning—you’re leading. That’s helped me grow professionally in ways I didn’t expect.”

Circular 11 has also matured significantly as a business. The company began by navigating unfamiliar manufacturing terrain, learning to balance the technical complexity of product development with the commercial realities of scaling a startup. “We took risks— namely personal loans and a strategic pivot to reinvent our product category by adjusting prices—but those decisions built our resilience and have been commercially successful,” Ben explains.

The Circular 11 team is set to double in size over the next nine months, growing from 10 to around 25. This reflects not only market traction but also the founders’ deliberate investment in talent, including specialists and generalists alike.

Looking Ahead:

Scaling Sustainably and Strategically

With a primarily B2B model, Circular 11 is currently focusing on key industrial sectors but is exploring future routes to broader market engagement with B2B2C. While Ben is cautious about leaning on ‘industry influencers’ for brand awareness, he remains open to opportunities that align with the company’s values and goals.

A new £1.8m investment raise will allow the company to move into new premises, consolidate growth and develop a manufacturing system that can work in commercial markets.

Future milestones include international expansion, patent development and potential recognition through awards such as the King’s Award for Enterprise—a move that could raise the company’s visibility and credibility further, in particular overseas.

“Ben’s experience shows RIEm is helping innovators like him to learn and lead and secure funding in the process,” says Dr Michael Joseph, RIEm Programme Lead.

Circular 11 continues to be a compelling example of how mission-driven innovation, combined with research excellence and entrepreneurial risk-taking, can create scalable impact. “We started this to solve a global problem,” Ben concludes. “Thanks to partners like Brunel University London, we’re closer than ever to making that vision a reality.”