Blog
Molly Ratcliffe, a BCU alumna, won the Female Founders Pitching Competition last year for her business WasteProjekt and was awarded £3,500 from the prize fund. The Female Founders Pitching Competition was organised by BCU, Aston University, University of Birmingham, and University College Birmingham in partnership with sponsors HSBC and Bruntwood SciTech.
Business Services asked Molly to reflect on her university life and journey into sustainable design.
Discovering My Passion for Biomaterials at BCU
When I started my Interior Architecture and Design degree at BCU, I had a clear vision of where I wanted to go. From a young age, I had been drawn to interior design, fascinated by how spaces could influence people’s experiences and emotions. Every academic step I took led me to this course, and I was eager to refine my skills, explore my creativity, and develop a career in designing beautiful, functional spaces.
It was during my second year that I stumbled upon something that would completely reshape my approach to design, biomaterials. I found myself completely captivated by the possibilities, of how waste could be transformed into functional, sustainable materials, and how this could be applied to reduce the environmental footprint of interior spaces.
Shaping My Future in Sustainable Design
From that point on, sustainability became the foundation of my design philosophy. I began questioning the lifespan of materials and the waste generated by constantly changing interiors, especially in retail spaces, where redesigns occur every 2-5 years, leaving behind discarded wall coverings, furniture, and fixtures. This inspired my final university project, which explored biodegradable materials for retail interiors, aiming to create design solutions that were both beautiful and regenerative.
My time at university also challenged me to rethink the future of materials, solidifying my belief that designers have a responsibility to lead the way in sustainable innovation. Now, as a business owner and advocate for biomaterials, I work to bridge the gap between academic research and real-world applications.
Turning Waste into Opportunity: The Story of WasteProjekt
After finishing my degree in Interior Architecture and Design, I became fascinated by biomaterials and their potential to reshape the way we interact with waste. Many of these materials remained theoretical or were in the early stages of commercialisation. I wanted to take that research further and explore how these innovations could be used in everyday life.
While working full-time, I dedicated my spare hours to experimenting, testing, and learning—driven by a passion for sustainability and a belief that waste isn’t an end, but a beginning. This mindset led to the creation of WasteProjekt, a business built on repurposing waste into something valuable for people and the planet.
What is WasteProjekt?
WasteProjekt is tackling two major environmental issues—food waste and plastic pollution—by transforming discarded organic materials into biodegradable plant pots. Instead of sending waste to landfill, we take it, process it, and manufacture it into sustainable gardening solutions. Our pots are designed to be planted directly into the soil, where they naturally decompose, nourishing the plants and eliminating plastic waste from the process.
Currently, we are producing 9cm starter pots, with seedling trays in development. As we grow, our goal is to expand into a full range of biodegradable gardening products, offering consumers and retailers a truly sustainable alternative to plastic plant pots.
A Circular Solution for a Growing Problem
Traditional plastic plant pots contribute to the millions of tons of plastic waste that end up in landfills each year. Many biodegradable alternatives exist, but they often lack durability or do not fully break down into beneficial nutrients for the soil. WasteProjekt’s plant pots are different. We ensure that our materials are not only compostable but also strong enough to support healthy plant growth before breaking down naturally in the ground.
To ensure our pots live up to their claims, we are undergoing sustainability testing and product trials. We want to guarantee that our pots perform well for gardeners while staying true to our environmental mission.
What’s Next?
We are currently preparing for our official launch in June 2025 at BBC Gardeners’ World Live, an incredible opportunity to showcase our innovation to a wider audience. Alongside this, we are working on obtaining sustainability certifications to validate the quality and benefits of our plant pots. Our long-term goal is to scale up production by securing manufacturing partnerships or investments. By doing so, we can bring WasteProjekt to more gardeners, retailers, and wholesalers, offering a simple yet effective way to reduce plastic waste in gardens across the UK.
Join us on This Journey
WasteProjekt is more than a business—it’s a movement towards a more sustainable future. If you’re an eco-conscious gardener, a retailer looking for greener alternatives, or a business interested in sustainable partnerships, we’d love to hear from you. Together we can grow a greener world.