UpLink WEF - Circular Economy & Plastic Waste Challenges

Enriched Corporate · Found: 2026-03-11 13:22

WEF platform accelerating early-stage circular economy innovation. Runs Plastic Waste to Value Southeast Asia Challenge with grant funding, mentorship, and partnership access. Targets Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam.

Source: https://uplink.weforum.org/uplink/s/uplink-issue/a002o00000vOf1oAAC/circular-economy

Funding Details

Funder

UpLink – World Economic Forum

Funding Goal

Accelerating early-stage innovation in circular economy, plastic waste, nature, water, and other systems-level sustainability challenges through thematic challenge competitions, mentorship, and corporate partnership access.

Funding Amount

Grant funding amount not specified; varies by challenge. Previous challenges have offered prize funding plus mentorship and partnership access.

How to Apply

Applications submitted through specific challenge pages on the UpLink platform (uplink.weforum.org). Each challenge has its own eligibility criteria, timeline, and submission portal. Prospective partners can also submit partnership inquiries via the Airtable form on the platform.

Target Region

Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam); global challenges also available

Contact

Partnership inquiries via Airtable form: https://airtable.com/app814Rdy2J9p3KRD/pagnVRVGoFKfpBDnX/form — LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/uplink-world-economic-forum — Twitter: @WEFUpLink

Last Checked

2026-03-11 16:18

Application Checklist

Eligibility

• Applicant must be an early-stage venture or entrepreneur with a scalable innovation (primary audience is startups, not established NGOs)
• For the Plastic Waste to Value SEA Challenge: operations or focus must be in Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, or Vietnam

Project Scope

• Solution must address circular economy, plastic waste conversion, or related sustainability themes aligned with the active challenge topic
• Solution should demonstrate potential for market scalability and measurable environmental/social impact

Required Documents

• Submit application through the specific challenge page on the UpLink platform; no generic applications accepted
• Partnership inquiries for co-designing challenges can be submitted separately via the Airtable partner form

Constraints

• Monitor uplink.weforum.org for new challenge rounds — the plastic waste SEA challenge is not currently listed as open (as of March 2026)

Summary

UpLink is the World Economic Forum's open innovation platform that connects early-stage ventures with investors, corporations, and industry leaders to scale breakthrough solutions. It operates through thematic challenge ecosystems — including circular economy and plastic waste — co-designed with corporate and multilateral partners. Challenges typically offer a combination of visibility, mentorship, strategic partnerships, and in some cases grant funding. The platform runs both global systems-level ecosystems (circular economy, nature and biodiversity, water, longevity, urban transformation) and place-based innovation challenges. The Plastic Waste to Value Southeast Asia Challenge, referenced in prior search results, specifically targeted innovators in Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam working to convert plastic waste into value. As of the March 2026 page snapshot, the currently listed open challenges are a Boston innovation challenge and an industrial AI/semiconductors challenge — the plastic waste SEA challenge appears to be in a closed or between-rounds state. UpLink's primary audience is early-stage ventures and entrepreneurs rather than established NGOs. The platform emphasizes scalability, market transformation, and commercial viability. Applications go through a competitive challenge format with evaluation by WEF partners and corporate sponsors. Winners gain access to Davos events, WEF networks, and tailored acceleration support. The circular economy thematic area remains active on the platform, suggesting future plastic and circular economy challenges are likely. Organizations working in plastic waste value chains, particularly in Southeast Asia, should monitor UpLink for new challenge rounds.

Historical Context

UpLink has run multiple plastic waste challenges previously, including the Plastic Waste to Value Southeast Asia Challenge targeting Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. The platform was active at Davos 2025 and 2026. As of March 2026, the circular economy ecosystem remains listed as an active thematic area on the platform.

Why it was added

WEF innovation platform with specific plastic waste challenges and grant funding in SE Asia, highly relevant for OPF

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