Reconomy launches £1m research hub in Romania

CircuLab – based in Bucharest – is intended to advance the circular economy specialist’s research in sustainability, environmental science, resource management and chemistry.

The function will focus on the development of new use cases, propositions and ways of working based on the sharing of best practise, leveraging data analytics, exploration of new technologies and regulatory foresight.

Guy Wakeley, chief executive of Reconomy, said: “We are excited by the launch of this function, the first of its kind in our sector, which will transform our ability to advance the circular economy for our customers and our own business.

“With the global economy consuming natural resources faster than the planet can regenerate them and businesses facing significant market volatility, this couldn’t come at a more important time.

“Not only will this help our customers lower their carbon footprint, identify material cost savings and improve profitability, but it also supports our mission to create a waste free world and shift the Earth Overshoot Day – the point when humanity’s resource use exceeds the Earth’s annual capacity – to later in the year.”

CircuLab will also look at opportunities improve the circularity of the eight million tonnes of material managed annually by Reconomy.

The function is being developed by Reconomy’s sustainability leads – Diane Crowe and Bianca Ifrim – and will be led by Torben Kristiansen, chief development officer of Combineering, part of the Reconomy brand.

Torben Kristiansen, chief development officer of Combineering, said: “I am delighted to be leading CircuLab at a time when closing the circularity gap has never been more critical.

“I look forward to working with Diane and Bianca and our new colleagues to develop high-impact circular solutions and identify smarter uses for waste for our customers.”

The lab will operate in conjunction with Reconomy’s internal delivery engine and technology scaling centre.

The RecoTek centre was launched last year and employs over 130 people.

CircuLab was opened in a launch event featuring several high-profile members of Romania’s business and academic sectors, including ambassador Uffe A. Balslev and Razvan Stroe from the Royal Danish Embassy in Romania.