86834Enabling the Brewing Industry’s Circular EconomyClosedCollaborative R&DInnovate UK**Introduction** 'Enabling the Brewing Industry's Circular Economy' is a bold project to transform the brewing industry. This proposal has been submitted by the founders of Draught Drop -- a young, ambitious company. We bring local draught beer to your door in reusable glass growlers and are known as the milkman for beer! We began Draught Drop to help the UK's vibrant brewing industry and offer customers high quality draught beer in the comfort of their home, in a way that is kind to the planet. **-** **Project opportunity** COVID-19 has had a particularly detrimental impact on the brewing industry which we will detail throughout this proposal. However, it has also provided the opportunity to bounce back greener and accelerate the transition to a circular economy. The global brewing market is worth $592bn with growth and long-term trends meaning Draught Drop and the UK industry are well placed to capitalise. As the sole operators in this market we have identified the technological and commercial constraints to be overcome and are proposing this six-month project, costing c.£100,000 to focus on two categories of innovation: * **Technical R&D** is needed to design and test core technologies required for a wider roll-out of the Draught Drop business model * **Business model innovation** to help scale the Draught Drop business and accelerate the positive environmental impact for the beer industry **-** **Execution plan and team** We have a detailed plan of how we would conduct this project, the resources required and the deliverables we will produce, namely: 1. A detailed design for the ecosystem and the technical requirements of the industry 2. Functioning prototypes of the unsolved technical challenges 3. The IP protection and potential patents to exploit this work Our team have successful careers in beer, e-commerce and innovation and have significant experience in managing innovative projects and programmes, recruiting talent and working with multiple organisations to achieve outcomes. We have also surrounded ourselves with an enthusiastic and knowledgeable group of partners in the brewing industry. We have laid out an ambitious programme of work packages, identified the resources required to deliver them and have highlighted the risks associated with our proposal and steps to mitigate these. **-** **Value for money** We believe this project offers strong value for the UK taxpayer and that now is the time to invest for maximum public benefit. The UK taxpayer stands to gain in a number of ways, via: * Project spend being entirely UK focused * Preserving and creating employment opportunities and skills * Protecting an industry central to British tradition and society * Supporting a business creating deployable IP with strong prospects to grow to a significant scale within the UK and globally With the investment of public funding, we would like us and the UK to lead the world to a greener brewing future.