AI waste analytics company Greyparrot has been named Circular Economy Project of the Year at the UK Green Business Awards 2026 for its Deepnest Packaging Waste Intelligence Platform.
The award recognises Greyparrot’s work using AI-powered waste analysis to give brands new levels of visibility into what happens to their packaging after it is discarded, helping them design more recyclable packaging, reduce waste and accelerate the transition towards a circular economy.
Greyparrot was selected ahead of a shortlist that included easyJet’s Uniform Recycling and Donation Initiative and the Time After Time Initiative, developed by Virgin Media O2 and Hubbub.
Judges described Greyparrot as a “pioneering packaging waste intelligence platform”, citing its ability to provide brands with data and transparency to improve packaging circularity. They also highlighted the company’s growing commercial adoption and its role in supporting packaging designs that improve recyclability and reduce environmental impact.
Other nominees included IFCO UK’s ASDA Reusable Packaging Container Project, enfinium’s Repair Café Support Fund, Equans UK & Ireland, InfraRed Capital Partners and Vercity’s Recirculate Project, alongside other innovative circular economy projects from across the UK.
The latest award adds to a series of industry accolades for Greyparrot. Previous recognition includes inclusion in TIME’s Best Inventions list for its AI-powered waste intelligence technology, Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas and Most Innovative Companies rankings, and TechRound’s AI45 list of leading AI companies. The company also won AI or Technology of the Year at the Awards for Excellence in Recycling & Waste Management and was named among Sifted’s 100 fastest-growing startups in the UK and Ireland in 2025.
Commenting on the award, Greyparrot co-founder Ambarish Mitra said the company’s Deepnest platform provides brands with evidence of how packaging performs in real recycling facilities rather than relying on theoretical recyclability assessments.
“Packaging that looks recyclable on paper is often unrecoverable in practice. That gap has been invisible to brands, until now.
“Deepnest measures how products actually perform inside real recycling facilities across 20+ countries. In our data, clear PET sorts at close to 95%, while some coloured PET falls as low as 15%. Same material, very different outcomes.
“For consumer brands facing EPR and PPWR, that visibility is now a commercial advantage. It turns sustainable packaging from a guessing game into a design decision backed by evidence.”
Mitra said the award reflected the growing importance of data in improving packaging circularity and expressed the company’s ambition to extend the technology across the packaging value chain.
