Produced by the University of Portsmouth’s Global Plastics Policy Centre (GPPC) for Defra, the Progressing Beyond Recycling for a Circular Economy report has reviewed research and innovation across six key sectors that were also identified as priorities in the government’s delayed Circular Economy Growth Plan.
The report examines activity in:
- Food and agriculture
- Chemicals and plastics
- Electrical and electronic equipment
- Transport
- Textiles
- The built environment
It concluded that although circular economy activity is increasing across all six sectors, much of the current focus remains on improving recycling, waste recovery and encouraging changes in consumer behaviour.
Antaya March, Director of the Global Plastics Policy Centre at the Revolution Plastics Institute, University of Portsmouth, said: “Recycling remains a part of a circular economy, but it cannot deliver the transition on its own.
“Our research found growing activity across all six sectors, yet much of this remains focused on managing waste after it has been created rather than preventing it in the first place.
“Greater attention to product design, reuse, repair and resource efficiency could help retain more value within the economy while reducing demand for new materials.”
Shift needed to design out waste
According to the report, comparatively few initiatives address how products are designed, manufactured and used, despite these stages offering the greatest opportunity to reduce resource consumption and waste generation.
Across all sectors, the research found that most activity targets mid- or downstream interventions rather than upstream measures that prevent waste altogether.
It identified limited work on material innovation, production processes, systems-level reuse operations and design for disassembly, including within resource-intensive industries such as construction, chemicals and agriculture.
The report suggested that expanding support for product redesign, modular manufacturing and design-stage traceability could help embed circularity much earlier in product lifecycles.
It also found that most circular economy initiatives concentrate on keeping materials in use for longer through recycling and improved waste management, rather than reducing the amount of material entering the economy in the first place.
It highlighted opportunities to promote circular business models such as repair, refurbishment and remanufacturing, arguing these approaches can maintain economic activity and employment while reducing demand for virgin materials.
Among its recommendations, the report suggested reforming VAT and public procurement rules to encourage repair and reuse, embedding circular economy principles into industrial and trade policy, and expanding extended producer responsibility schemes to create stronger incentives for reducing material use and retaining value.
The findings will be used by Defra to help shape future research and innovation programmes, targeting areas where circular economy activity is currently limited.
The government body said this could support the development of innovative approaches such as eco-design and servitisation while creating opportunities for economic growth and job creation.
Register for free to comment