Challenge 11.3

How can technology reduce the environmental and social impact of litter at Arrochar?

Challenge Sponsor: The GRAB Trust

4c Design

4c Design has developed a modular, field-deployable anaerobic digestion system that turns mixed coastal and foreshore waste into renewable energy, recoverable plastics, and nutrient-rich digestate — no pre-sorting required. Piloting at Arrochar, the system integrates collection, pre-processing, digestion, and material separation into a single scalable unit. It reduces landfill dependency while closing the resource loop. Designed for councils, landowners, and coastal communities, it's a circular economy solution built for the places conventional infrastructure can't reach.

4c Design responded to CivTech Challenge 11.3

The Opportunity

Over 8 million tonnes of plastic enter the ocean annually - coastal authorities are under increasing pressure to act. 4c Design delivers a scalable product-service model for councils, environmental bodies, and landowners, generating revenue through waste processing, energy generation, digestate, and material recovery, with strong commercial potential for global rollout.

Next Steps

By 2027, 4c Design will deploy a pilot at Arrochar to validate system performance. From 2028, the solution will scale across Scottish coastal sites. Following this, the team will secure partnerships and funding to enable UK-wide rollout, with international expansion to follow.

The Team

4c Design brings over 20 years’ experience taking complex products from research to real-world deployment. The team combines mechanical engineering, systems design, and commercial delivery, with a strong track record across multiple sectors. We build robust, practical solutions that perform in the field - not just in the lab.