Our research
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Exploring the Circular Economy: Impactful Analysis, Evaluation and Insights
The Exeter Centre for Circular Economy is dedicated to developing, testing and adding to the theory and practice of Circular Economy interventions and real-world implementation. We are home to a £30 million 4-year UKRI funded programme that brings together academics, industry practitioners and policy makers to deliver circular economy research and innovation.
We collaborate with 34 UK based Universities who are researching the potential for circularity in textiles, construction minerals, metals, technology metals and chemicals.
Our research has been designed to deliver real world impact - we aim to create world-leading research whilst delivering practical input through the development of tools, methods and insight to enhance an organisation’s economic and social value, competitiveness, and innovative capability.
Research Projects Examples
Research Capability
Our team brings cross-sector experience and our research capability includes:
- Analysis and insights into key areas of Circular Economy application including Circular Design, Business Models, Reverse Logistics, Policy and wider system enablers;
- Empirically driven tools and techniques to accelerate initiation and implementation at scale;
- Actionable insights across many sectors, applications and starting points that connect the Circular Economy to conversations and actions around Net Zero, SDGs and sustainable futures;
- A current portfolio of over £20M research and innovation projects across multiple resource, product and sectoral and categories. Our research is funded by the UK Research Council, Innovate UK, Governmental Departments, Industry and NGOs;
- High impact academic outputs, technical reports, policy briefings, industry spotlight papers and data led dashboards;
- A diverse range of scientific qualitative and quantitative research methods to build the evidence base for what works (and doesn’t) and the reasons why.
Contact us
If you have an enquiry for research collaboration, please fill in the form and a member of the team will get in touch with you.
Design for Life
Department of Health and Social Care
Design for Life is a collaborative initiative between government, industry, the health and care sector, and academia to explore and identify practical actions that address the challenges of resource security and efficiency, supply resilience, net zero, Circular Economy and single-use plastics facing MedTech in the UK.
Circular Economy in Flood Risk Management
Environment Agency
Circular Economy in Flood Risk Management project is a collaborative initiative to show how the circular economy can be embedded into flood risk management; demonstrating and quantifying the costs and benefits associated with embedding circularity into the design, management and end of life of flood risk management assets.
Accelerating the Transition towards a Net-Zero NHS
National Health Service
Accelerating the Transition towards Net-Zero was a collaborative initiative with the NHS and Philips to investigate and demonstrate how the NHS and its suppliers can implement CE at scale. It is intended that decision makers will embrace Circular Economy business models.
Office for National Statistics
Circular Economy Trade Utility
Funded by the Office for National Statistics, this project developed a novel circular economy public-private data pooling system to support government policy evidence formation and proof of value from circular economy interventions. Using rare earth permanence magnets as a product-materiel test case, we demonstrated how to overcome data gaps to develop dynamic modelling approaches to target future economic, environmental and social benefits from CE scenarios and policy interventions.
Resources and Waste Strategy - Electronics
Defra
The Resources and Waste Strategy (Electronics) is a collaborative project to understand the potential for varied approaches to the provision and communication of warranties and guarantees to support longer product lifetimes & better value for consumers; including the impact on product design; the potential for waste prevention and reduction to environmental and carbon footprints across their full lifecycle.
The Global Circular Data Sharing Network
International Society for Professional Innovation Management
The Global Circular Data Sharing Network is a collaborative project formed of a community of members from research, industry and the public sector who focus on accelerating world-leading research & impact in Circular Economy Innovation. They aim to accelerate publication of research in world leading publications.
