It’s been a busy week! Let’s get stuck in.

Industry News

Collaborations and Partnerships 🤝:

Marks & Spencer partners with eBay and Reskinned to scale resale. The partnership lets customers trade in pre-loved M&S clothing, which Reskinned cleans, repairs, and lists on eBay via the official M&S x eBay store. Non-wearable items are recycled or repurposed via appropriate channels. Read more.

Awin and Birl partner to optimise resale for brands. The affiliate giant and B Corp resale platform are collaborating to enable brands to launch circular programs, fast. Brands can go live in under 24 hours with no upfront cost, while tapping into Awin’s global publisher network. Read more.

Mercedes-Benz partners with TSR Group to pilot “urban mining.” At a new dismantling site in Germany, the duo will recover aluminium, steel, copper, plastics, and glass from end-of-life vehicles for reintegration into new cars. The initiative supports Ambition 2039, targeting 40% secondary material use within the next decade. Read more.

SK On and EcoPro ink MOU to power battery circularity. The agreement will see SK On supply high-purity “black powder” from defective and waste batteries to EcoPro. EcoPro will convert it into cathode materials and resupply them to SK Battery America, creating a closed-loop battery material system. Read more.

Circular Connect announces a media partnership with Circular Summit. Join the Circular Connect team at the UK’s premier secondary mobile event on October 22 at London Hilton Tower Bridge. Register here with code CIRCCONNECT10 for an exclusive discount.

Company Updates 🔎:

Foxway reports softer Q2 but has laid solid growth foundations. The circular tech specialist posted SEK 1.86bn in net sales, down 8.6% year-on-year. Despite headwinds, Foxway expanded its Device-as-a-Service offering, strengthened OEM partnerships, and made new leadership hires, positioning the group for future growth. Read more.

Tesco commits to expanding circular initiatives by repurposing surplus food into animal and pet feed. The supermarket plans to continue turning products unfit for human consumption into animal or pet feed, in line with WRAP’s hierarchy and Tesco’s target to halve operational food waste by December 2025. Read more.

Royal Mail rolls out 3,500 “postboxes of the future.” The new solar-panelled postboxes power a parcel drawer and barcode scanner, making it easier to send and return parcels. This rollout marks the biggest update to the UK postbox in 175 years. Read more.

Dell embeds circularity throughout its data-centre roadmap. The company is reclaiming materials from retired servers and storage to reduce e-waste and support ecosystem resource efficiency. It’s also deploying advanced cooling solutions and AI workload optimisation to extend hardware life. Read more.

Denali recycled 7 million tons of organics in 2024. The US organics recycler transformed the materials into animal feed, compost, fertiliser, and biodiesel. It also added additional depackaging facilities and launched ReCirculate compost in 600 Walmart outlets. Read more.

Fixably adds WhatsApp integration to its platform. The repair management software, used globally by electronics service providers, now enables WhatsApp messaging alongside SMS and email. Conversations are automated, multilingual, and stored in a single customer thread for clarity and compliance. Read more.

Amcor upgrades UK recycling site to boost flexible-plastic circularity. The facility saw major enhancements, including a modernised wash plant, enhanced quality controls, and new safety systems, enabling an extra 2,800 tonnes of recycled output. Read more.

Recon completes construction of 40 kilotonnes per annum chemical recycling plant in Shandong. Backed by $15m of investment, the facility will soon enter commissioning ahead of a December 2025 launch. Waste plastics will be transformed into reusable pyrolysis oil and carbon residue, underpinning China’s push for circularity. Read more.

Mura Technology expands into Singapore with new recycling facility. The advanced plastics recycler is launching a 50 kilotonnes per annum Hydro-PRT plant on Jurong Island’s Singapore Essential Chemicals Complex. It joins Mura’s licensed sites in Japan and South Korea. Read more.

Musinsa launches Musinsa Used, a streamlined resale platform within its app. South Korea’s leading fashion app now allows users to buy and sell secondhand clothing easily, integrating circular fashion into its existing ecosystem. The move promotes sustainability and extends product lifecycles through peer-to-peer transactions. Read more.

Regional Highlights 🌎️:

Global circular economy market projected to more than double by 2032. The sector is expected to grow rapidly from $149.9 billion in 2024 to $355.4 billion by 2032, fuelled by ESG adoption, recycling tech innovation, regulatory momentum, and various other factors. Read more.

Scientists in Switzerland use old milk to recover gold from e-waste. ETH Zürich has developed a whey-based aerogel that extracts 93% of gold from circuit boards while leaving other metals behind. The process produced 91% pure nuggets and offers returns up to 50× input costs. Read more.

UK study shows price doesn’t equal durability in fashion. Leeds University and WRAP tested 47 t-shirts, finding no link between cost and lifespan, with a £395 garment underperforming a £4 one. Blends and fabric weight proved more important than price, highlighting design for durability as key to scaling circular fashion. Read more.

Investment News

M&A 💰️:

MobileSentrix acquires TouchFix to expand its repair parts network. The acquisition is MobileSentrix’s second in ~30 days and strengthens its European footprint by integrating 70,000+ SKUs, next-day logistics, and local payment options into its impressive repair and spare parts infrastructure. Read more.

Venture and Growth Capital 📈:

Aviva launches €500 million cleantech fund for nature, climate, and energy. The new investment vehicle is designed to back early-stage clean technologies across renewables, sustainable infrastructure, and nature-based solutions. The fund supports the company’s net-zero ambitions and advances circular economic models. Read more.

IFC and BTG Pactual to invest $1bn in LatAm sustainability. The World Bank’s IFC and Brazil’s BTG Pactual will invest up to $1bn by 2028 to finance bioeconomy, conservation, and climate projects across Latin America. The deal blends equity, co-financing, and private-equity vehicles to drive systemic change at scale. Read more.

Wastelink raises $3 million Series A to expand food upcycling. The Delhi-based B2B startup will enhance its tech stack and expand into new product categories. Its AI-powered reverse supply chain already converts over 35,000 tonnes of food surplus into animal feed, serving ~38,500 animals across India. Read more.

everwave raises funding to scale river cleaning operations. German cleantech everwave closed its largest round yet, led by Viessmann Generations Group and other investment partners. Funds will expand its waste collection boat fleet and recycling infrastructure, with a particular focus on Southeast Asia. Read more.

A final call for 4th Sector Innovations’ Fall ’25 cohort. The InterPhase Incubator and Instantaneous pre-Accelerator are filling their last slots for startups, including those in the circular economy. These intensive three-month programs are no-fee, non-dilutive, and designed to help ventures move from discovery to scalable commercialisation. Apply today using the links above to secure your spot for the September 5 kick-off!

Before we wrap up for the weekend, why not take part in our referral scheme and share Circular Connect with someone who will benefit from it?

Have a great one and we’ll meet again on Monday!

Cheers to circularity,

#TeamCircularConnect #ConnectingTheCircularEconomy