It’s been another busy week in the circular economy, with everything from hydrogen derived from cow manure to fashion repair services. Grab a tea or coffee and let’s get stuck in!

Industry News

Microsoft announces Rare Earth Elements recovery success. Working with Western Digital, Critical Materials Recycling, and PedalPoint Recycling, Microsoft transformed approximately 50,000 pounds of end-of-life hard disk drives into critical, high value elements like neodymium, gold, and copper. Read more.

The European Union approves product circularity and repair standards plan. The five year strategy requires member states to meet consistent standards on repairability and circularity for goods such as steel, aluminium, textiles, furniture, tyres, and mattress products. Read more.

British Retailer John Lewis expands repair services nationwide. Building on a positive pilot initiated in July 2024, John Lewis is continuing its collaboration with Timpson Group, allowing customers to drop fashion items off in-store for cleaning or repairing. Read more.

Back Market and iFixit team up to make repair mainstream. The collaboration will see iFixit’s repair guides and toolkits integrated into Back Market’s platform, educating and empowering consumers to fix their devices before considering replacements. Read more.

ReturnPro's report reveals consumer concerns over tariffs. According to ReturnPro's "State of Consumer Returns" report, 84% of consumers are worried that tariffs will increase costs, and 80% would alter their purchasing behaviour by turning to secondary markets. Read more.

Returns management specialist Rebound launches new returns centre in Dallas. The hub is designed to power a faster, smarter, localised returns ecosystem, underscoring how robust reverse logistics infrastructure plays a critical role in circularity at scale. Read more.

Japanese hydrogen farm turns cow manure into power. Excrement is collected from local dairy farms and fed into an anaerobic digester to create biogas, and then hydrogen. The plant creates 18,500 gallons of hydrogen and powers 28 vehicles daily, reducing methane gas impact. Read more.

United Utilities and Levidian produce hydrogen from sewage waste in the UK. The partnership is pioneering a project to produce clean hydrogen and super-material graphene from sewage waste at United Utilities’ Manchester facility. UK sewage waste could produce 75,000 tonnes of hydrogen per year. Read more.

Germany’s Covestro introduces recycled materials from end-of-life headlamps. Under this initiative, the materials manufacturer has been collaborating with recycling partners and leading automakers to establish re-use channels for high-value plastics from end-of-life vehicles. Read more.

Forterra repurposes brick waste for circular construction. In partnership with LKAB Minerals, the leading manufacturer of building products is repurposing crushed brick waste into calcined clay, an alternative to traditional cement. The partnership aims to create 35,000 tonnes of calcined clay per year. Read more.

China doubles-down on circularity. Recognising the dual benefits to the economy and environment, China has vigorously expanded the utilisation of circular processes across all industries, including a rapidly growing secondhand market for household appliances, necessities, books and digital products. Read more.

Count-down to the leading circular economy conference begins. Circularity 25 is headed to Denver to discuss “Accelerating the Circular Economy”. With over 280 speakers and a packed program, this is set to be a gamechanger. Register here.

Investment News

Trove advances European expansion with acquisition of reverse.supply. Resale platform Trove opted for the German based recommerce as a service specialist to make branded resale even more accessible, scalable, and operationally seamless for global brands. Read more.

Greentown Labs incubator welcomes 5 new climate start-ups. Congratulations to Concept Loop, GeoFuels, PlasEne, RepAir Carbon, and RotorVault for joining the largest climatetech start-up incubator in North America. Read more and learn more about the chosen 5 in our showcase section below!

Circular Connect News

We smashed through 200 subscribers 😁🥳. We’re delighted with our growth, which has been completely organic. In light of inbound media requests and amazing feedback, we’re now looking at other strategies to help us scale the circular community. Interested to explore a partnership? Please reach out to David - [email protected] 

Circular Showcase

Concept Loop (Pakistan)
Concept Loop transforms hard-to-recycle plastic waste into eco-friendly construction materials like pavers, tiles, and blocks. Their EcoGrete product line offers sustainable alternatives to traditional building materials, contributing to waste reduction and promoting circularity in the construction industry.

GeoFuels (USA)
GeoFuels combines baseload geothermal energy with methane pyrolysis to produce clean hydrogen. Their process not only produces low-carbon hydrogen but also enables the creation of sustainable fuels like e-methanol and green gasoline, contributing to a more circular system.

RepAir Carbon (Israel)
RepAir Carbon is pioneering electrochemical direct air capture (DAC) technology designed for gigaton-scale carbon removal. Its fully electric, zero-heat process operates without liquids or solvents and uses 70% less energy than conventional methods.

PlasEne (USA)
PlasEne has developed a proprietary technology that converts municipal plastic waste into diesel and high-purity hydrogen. This innovative process offers a 100% waste-free solution, ensuring zero emissions and full resource utilization.

RotorVault (USA)
RotorVault is enhancing grid stability and reducing reliance on fossil fuels with its advanced flywheel systems, offering a sustainable and cost-effective alternative to traditional batteries. Their technology provides 8-hour storage durations with over 85% round-trip efficiency and a 30-year service life without degradation.

That’s us wrapping up for the Easter weekend. Have a great one; we look forward to connecting again in 7 days!

Cheers to circularity,

#TeamCircularConnect