EPSRC-Defra Circular Economy Workshop

Overview

The broad remit of circular economy requires diverse inputs from across academic and user communities in many disciplines and sectors, and it is important that the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) is able to provide support to individuals working on a broad set of research areas.

We are working with the community to evolve our strategic priorities. We recently released a call focused on advancing research in recycling capabilities. Together with the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), we are now exploring future opportunities more broadly within the circular economy and fit within the 8 R’s of circular economy above recycling (Figure 1), specifically around research areas/methods which maximise the value of products and materials such as retrofit, repair, reuse, remanufacturing, modular design, ecodesign, and servitisation. We are also interested in research and innovation that aligns with circular business models and has the potential to be embedded in business or industry in the medium and long-term future. Additionally, interdisciplinarity is key to research and innovation outcomes in these areas.

Figure 1: Circularity ladder adapted from Kirchherr et al. (2017) [1]

The Secretary of State for the Defra recently announced a landmark initiative to guide the nation's transition toward a truly circular and future-proof economy [1]. At the heart of this vision is the establishment of an independent circular economy taskforce, which will focus on 5 priority sectors: chemicals & plastics, textiles, agri-food, transport and the built environment, underscoring the central role of cutting-edge research and transformative innovation in driving sustainable progress. By aligning with priority sectors and adopting circularity measures that go beyond recycling, the UK can transition from a linear economy to one that decouples economic activity from new resource extraction. This approach will help safeguard against future resource depletion and mitigate risks to economic growth.

We would like to bring together individuals from different parts of the research and innovation ecosystem to learn more from you, and are excited to offer the opportunity to offer insights to us, and highlight any significant omissions in our thoughts so far.

We will host workshops in June 2025 to gather views from our community. Each workshop will last no more than 4 hours (identical content presented at each), have a maximum of thirty participants, and we will offer in-person and virtual participation. Dedicated networking sessions will also be facilitated for delegates.
 
We would love for you to join us at a workshop this Spring. Please fill in this Form to express an interest in attending. We strongly encourage early and mid-career individuals to apply, and those from underrepresented minorities . If you have any questions about the process or the structure of the workshop please contact us. 

We will conduct a shortlisting exercise in May 2025, and let you know whether your expression of interest has been successful no later than 2 June 2025.

How UK Research and Innovation will use your personal data
The personal data you give us will be used to design and deliver a workshop about circular economy. Your personal data will be handled in line with UK Data Protection legislation and managed securely. The personal information that you provide on this form will be used for the processing of your application. The information will be viewed by EPSRC, Innovate UK and Defra staff for the purpose of the shortlisting exercise, and the design, delivery and evaluation of the workshop. Your information will not be used/shared for any other purpose without your specific consent. EPSRC will publish and share anonymized aggregated information with stakeholders   who may be interested who attended the workshop, such as those at higher education institutions and in government departments. If you consent to this, your information will be included as a part of a delegates list which will be shared with other delegates for networking purposes. For further information, including how to exercise your data protection rights, please see our privacy notice: https://www.ukri.org/privacy-notice
If you have any questions please contact manufacturingandCE@epsrc.ukri.org .

How Defra will use your personal data
For further information, please see Defra’s privacy note here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/defras-social-research-privacy-notice/defras-social-research-privacy-notice . Please note that data sharing will take place between Defra and EPSRC only for the purposes of the design, delivery and evaluation of the workshop.

References
[1] J. Kirchherr, D. Reike, and M. Hekkert, “Conceptualizing the circular economy: An analysis of 114 definitions,” Resour. Conserv. Recycl., vol. 127, pp. 221–232, Dec. 2017, doi: 10.1016/j.resconrec.2017.09.005.
[2] Department of Environment Food and Rural Affairs., “Reed pledges to ‘end throwaway society’ working with business to slash waste, boost growth and clean up Britain,” Press Release. [Online]. Available: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/reed-pledges-to-end-throwaway-society-working-with-business-to-slash-waste-boost-growth-and-clean-up-britain