The Road Ahead for the Circular Economy

When people think about what ‘Circular Economy’ means, most people think of recycling and charity shops. However, the circular economy is more than that. By focusing at the design stage on 1) eliminating waste and pollution, 2) circulating products and materials, and 3) regenerating nature, a circular economy encourages business models that create value and then recover that value again from a product – through maintenance or at the end of its life.

The Environment Secretary, Steve Reed, has committed to achieving a Zero Waste Economy, and the Labour Party, more interventionist by nature, has set its sights on a shift to a Circular Economy. Logical for an administration that loves repeating that “the number one mission is growth” while being emphatic that growth and climate action are not contradictory.

Nature Minister Mary Creagh CBE, a former Environmental Audit Committee Chair with an interest in textiles and plastics, holds responsibility for the circular economy and has promptly convened a Circular Economy Taskforce. This taskforce has been tasked with developing a Circular Economy Strategy for England, to be published in October 2025.

The strategy will be underpinned by a series of sectoral roadmaps, which are set to link not only to the forthcoming Industrial Strategy (due in June), refreshed Carbon Budget Delivery Plan, and Minerals Strategy, but will also be heavily complemented by an Industrial Decarbonisation Strategy.

Reporting to a small ministerial group including Treasury, Transport, Communities and Local Government, Energy Security and Net Zero, and the Department for Business and Trade, the taskforce has been examining a few categories for intervention, including the built environment, transport, plastics/chemicals, textiles, and agri-food.

Notably absent from the ministerial group and the sectors under review: the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and electronics, respectively. This is interesting given the announcement we’ve already seen on financial obligations being placed on online marketplaces and vape producers to pay for recycling and cleaning up household electrical waste.

A curious example of a fiscal ‘stick’ being used when the benefits of circularity in electronics are so evident. A refurbished smartphone uses 91.3% less raw materials, 86.4% less water, generates 89% less e-waste, and puts 91.6% less carbon emissions into the atmosphere compared to a brand-new one. Meanwhile, varieties of smartphones contain anywhere between eight and 17 rare-earth metals.

But financial levers may not be the only mandates, targets, or incentives in the strategy. For example, in the built environment sector, we may see something about choice in materials, or for agri-food, we may see something about supply chains (public sector food targets, anyone?).

Mindful of the EU’s activities, the government also has some big decisions about where it wants to align or diverge from the EU’s Circular Economy Action Plan. The EU is on track for adoption and publication of its first Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) working plan in Q2 2025. These rules will push manufacturers to minimise the carbon footprint and broader environmental impacts of their products and will introduce a mandatory Digital Product Passport.

As the taskforce moves into phase two and intensifies its work ahead of publication in seven months’ time, engagement on real-world and business impacts will be more important than ever. With business groups at pains to lobby for the reversal of some of the announcements from the Budget, businesses are reminded that engagement at the proposal stage can save many headaches downstream. And while the taskforce struggles to engage with businesses – with most of its members being not-for-profit – their Circular Economy Network "will play an important role.” The form to join the network is still live.