Circularity in practice

With Circular Economy Week taking place from 20-26 October, our Director of Circular Design Sophie Thomas, has been traveling the UK to share her insights at the Recycling Expo, Tarkett’s Inspire Circular Programme, and the ASBP’s Reuse Summit.

The common thread? How can we achieve a truly circular economy and who will drive the change?

Sophie explores how designers, innovators, and regional leaders are reshaping wasteful systems to create resilient futures through creative thinking, collaboration, and the relentless pursuit of reuse:

Closing the circularity gap

The 2025 Circularity Gap Report (CGR) reveals a sobering truth: only 6.9% of materials re-enter our global economy. The vast majority remain virgin raw materials, extracted at enormous cost to energy, biodiversity, and CO2 emissions. Each year, the share of secondary materials declines, signaling that our circular ambitions are slipping further from reach.

Global extraction of raw materials has more than tripled in the last fifty years, now reaching a staggering 100bn annually – the same amount extracted throughout the entire 20th century. If current trends persist, this figure is projected to rise by another 60% by 2060.

We are routinely exceeding planetary boundaries, crossing safe environmental limits. On 12 October 2025, the second Global Tipping Points Report was published ahead of COP30. Authored by 160 scientists from 87 institutions in 23 countries, it delivered a stark warning: we’ve entered a ‘new reality’ marked by widespread mortality of warm water coral reefs, a critical tipping point. And others loom ahead – melting ice sheets, Amazon rainforest dieback, and the collapse of vital ocean currents. Every fraction of a degree, every year above 1.5°C, is consequential; we are currently on track for 3.1°C by 2100.

Our world is built on entrenched, linear economic flows – vast, global, and persistent. Designers are part of this highly subsidised system that externalises the cost of extraction and exploitation, treating the planet as a bottomless source of free raw materials. Crucially, 70% of global greenhouse gas emissions are tied to material extraction, processing, handling, and use. To address climate change, we must radically rethink our relationship with materials and move beyond linear consumption.

The critical role of reuse

As cities expand, new buildings, roads, and infrastructure lock materials away for decades, often with little thought for future recovery. This slows the rate that resources can be reused or recycled, intensifying resource pressures and shaping long-term demand.

Today’s housing stock is rigid, designed for the present moment – a “what we see, we can sell” mentality – unlike more adaptable Victorian or Georgian homes. Without strategies for local operations, material-efficient construction, adaptive reuse, and longevity, cities risk becoming hotspots of material demand, exacerbating resource depletion.

The reality is that materials available for development are finite. As extraction becomes more difficult, or trade tensions disrupt supply, costs soar and governments grow anxious. These pressures are catalysts for innovation and policy reform. But we already know enough to anticipate what’s coming – true resilience demands a shift in behaviour and mindset.

For instance, rare metals locked into long-lived assets mean nations and industries will struggle to maintain infrastructure without circular approaches to resource management. Reuse is a cornerstone of circularity, yet those who champion it know the challenges are significant.

How do we break the cycle?

Who must lead the transformation of global supply chains?

The answer lies in coordinated, multi-level behaviour change, across industries, supply chains, policymakers, and individuals.

Proving circularity at scale

Demonstrating that circular principles can work at industrial scale is essential to driving systemic change. The London 2012 Olympics showed how ambitious sustainability targets could be embedded into major infrastructure projects. The cable net roof of the Olympic Velodrome exemplified lightweight, resource-efficient design engineered for future adaptability and material recovery. Concrete incorporating up to 30% recycled aggregate and 25–40% pulverised fuel ash set international benchmarks, ultimately influencing BS ISO 20121/2024: Event Sustainability Management Systems. These outcomes proved that circular thinking could meet the demands of high-profile, time-sensitive projects without compromising quality or performance. Learning papers from this work continue to inform best practice across the industry.

The economic case for reuse becomes compelling when examined at sector level. In 2015, work with Zero Waste Scotland explored the value locked in North Sea oil rig decommissioning. While offshore structures cost around £2bn to build, removal might total £200m with only £20m recouped through recycling. Multi-sector workshops identified 186 reuse opportunities across 12 sectors, demonstrating how a coordinated approach could generate a £1bn-a-year industry ecosystem – far exceeding the value of recycling alone and creating a powerful argument for policy intervention.

Regional leadership and systemic change

Regional authorities are uniquely positioned to coordinate circular transitions. The West Midlands Combined Authority’s roadmap to circularity identified construction, food, and manufacturing as key intervention areas, leading to 14 strategic initiatives including industrial symbiosis zones and zero waste construction hubs. With the region consuming over 26.3mt of minerals and 5mt of natural resources annually – 3.8 times more reliant on non-renewable than renewable materials – the roadmap provides a framework for reducing dependence on virgin resources while unlocking economic opportunity.

Infrastructure renewal offers another critical testing ground. Through our interdisciplinary work with the Useful Simple Trust, we’ve seen how embedding circular principles into day-to-day operations can achieve dramatic results. Network Rail’s platform plank renewal programme demonstrates this potential: by optimising concrete mixes with 80% Portland cement replacement, slimming unit profiles through non-corrosive reinforcement, and working closely with existing framework suppliers, embodied carbon reductions of 57-64% were achieved without disrupting monthly production of hundreds of units.

Meanwhile, design competitions like the Lower Thames Crossing footbridge contest champion salvaged steel and lean construction principles, proving that circular approaches can deliver infrastructure that is beautiful, durable, and economical. These examples show that transformation doesn’t require wholesale supply chain disruption – it requires strategic intervention, technical expertise, and collaborative implementation with those already operating within the system.

Such projects demonstrate that circularity isn’t theoretical – it’s achievable when the right expertise, collaboration, and commitment come together at the right scale.

The bigger picture

Materials are fundamental to human prosperity, but our current approach is unsustainable. Reuse is a critical building block for a circular future. The challenge is to transform our linear model into one that retains products, materials, and embodied energy – maximising value and minimising waste for generations to come.