F.A.T.C.O.N.O.M.Y
UK UCO PRICE £820/tonne ▲ +1.8% WoW UPDATED · APR 2026
SERVICE DESIGN & INNOVATION WASTE FAT ECONOMY CAMPAIGNING FOR A CIRCULAR FUTURE SINCE 2019 A STUDIO FICTA PROJECT

Fatconomy is a service-design and innovation campaign for the UK's waste fat economy, all in service of a circular future. We map the system, work with the people inside it, prototype design led scenarios and tools, and run immersive campaigns to shift policy, education and behaviour around waste.

Explore the fatconomy world below.

Fatconomy map
EDIT MODE - drag markers, drag pink handle to resize
Services · For industry & commissioners

An innovation campaign partner for the waste sector

Fatconomy is a public facing campaign and service-design practice working with biofuel refiners, sanitation utilities, regulators and educators to make the waste fat economy legible, defensible and investable. Four modes of engagement, scoped to your programme.

01

Stories with impact

Films, interactive maps and campaign assets that make invisible waste systems legible to a public, press and policy audience, translating technical material flows into stories that can be shared, cited and funded.

For: biofuel producers, utilities, awarding bodies, sustainability comms teams. Outputs: short films, animated explainers, microsites (this one), social cuts, press kits.

02

Workshops & scenario building

Facilitated workshop programmes that turn factory floors, classrooms and community halls into temporary labs for the circular fat economy, co-designing future products, services and policy briefs with operators, students and the public.

For: Service innovation labs, education partners, local authorities, regulators. Outputs: scenario decks, co-designed prototypes, hack-a-thons, interactive research, system testing scenarios.

03

Material narratives & innovation

Research-led narrative strategy that turns technical evidence (fraud, imports, regulation, byproducts, climate education) into public facing innovations and experiences. We work alongside your technical teams, to create and build new services, ideas and concepts.

For: trade bodies, sustainability councils, biofuel producers, foundations. Outputs: evidence briefs, public reports, experience campaigns, exhibition experiences.

Brief us on a project → Typical engagement: 6–12 weeks. Studio led from London.
Innovations, stories and research led experience

Case Studies From
The Fatconomy Ecosystem

The numbers that matter

What's actually flowing through the UK fat economy

Half a million tonnes of fats, oils and greases leave UK kitchens every year. A growing share is fuelling the country's road transport. The rest is fraud, fatbergs and lost value.

~500,000 tUK FOG · per year
~70%UK UCO for biofuel · imported
£820/tIndicative UCO price · Apr 2026
NEXT PHASE · 2025–2027

Closing the missing first mile of the circular fat economy

Domestic FOG capture is the hardest part of the waste fat supply chain to crack — and while industry is making real progress at scale, the first mile from kitchen to collector remains largely unsolved. We're building a design led system that closes this gap, plugging directly into existing waste infrastructure to make household collection viable for the first time.

FA(C)T — Field Analysis Collection Tool prototype, Studio Ficta 2025
FA(C)T · Field Analysis Collection Tool · Studio Ficta · 2025
PARTNERSHIPS

Working with key partners

We are actively working with industry partners across the waste fat supply chain — from collection and processing to data infrastructure and policy — to build the collaborative framework this system requires. Partner enquiries welcome.

35–40M
Litres of cooking oil poured down UK drains annually
£100M+
Spent yearly clearing fatbergs — majority from domestic sources
+60%
Compliance uplift when visible local infrastructure is in place
Carbon+
Current hauler routes negate the carbon savings of biofuel — local hubs fix this
Interested in funding or partnering on the next phase?
REQUEST INVESTOR BRIEF →
Work with us

Commission a Fatconomy programme.

We partner with biofuel producers, sanitation utilities, regulators, foundations and education bodies to design campaigns, tools and research that move the waste fat economy forward. Brief us on something specific, or open a conversation about a future programme.

  • Studio led from London · UK + international engagements
  • Typical engagement: 6–12 weeks · scoped to your programme
  • Outputs: films, microsites, prototype tools, evidence briefs, workshop programmes
Studio Ficta
About · The studio behind Fatconomy

A campaign and innovation practice by Studio Ficta

Studio Ficta is a London-based experience, film and creative service-design practice working at the intersection of public infrastructure, sustainability and technology.

Fatconomy is the studio's long-running campaign on the waste fat economy, building films, tools, workshops and policy design interventions with industry partners including Argent Energy, EcoClarity, and Birmingham University. Previously exhibited at the Design Museum and supported by the fellowship award programme by the Royal Commission for the Great Exhibition of 1851.

studioficta.com →