Circular economy consultancy

A sustainable future is dependent on less consumption and the adoption of a circular economy. That’s why our circular economy services have remained a core focus since we first launched in 2001.

Why we need a circular economy

Our current 'take, make, and waste' model, known as the linear economy, is wreaking havoc on our planet. This unsustainable system drives irreversible climate change, depletes finite resources, degrades natural habitats, and causes widespread biodiversity loss.

To live within planetary boundaries, we must transition to a closed loop and regenerative economy – otherwise known as a circular economy. This means extending the life cycle of materials by reducing consumption, conserving resources, and maximising reuse and recycling.

Latest Report

Implementation Guidelines for Single-use Plastics in Nigeria

How we work

Transitioning to a circular economy requires significant system changes, including policy and legislative shifts at local, national, and supranational levels. It also demands innovations and adaptations across public and private sectors, as well as behavioural and cultural changes throughout society.

Eunomia works at the leading edge of circular economy thinking and practice. We apply our technical expertise to devise and model policies and practical solutions to real-world circularity challenges. We also work with clients in the private sector to assess and redesign their business practices so they can reduce waste, extend the life cycle of their resources, and improve outcomes for both the environment and commerce.

Our circular economy consultancy services

Circular economy policy

Influential thought leadership, and the design and evaluation of innovative policies that support a transition to a circular economy.

Circular economy strategy

Combining science-led, technical knowledge with strategic thinking to guide organisations towards more sustainable choices.

Circular economy implementation

Changing how a service is delivered, launching a new service, or altering how a product is made is challenging. We support you from identifying the need for change to implementing and embedding it across your organisation.

Case studies

ScottishPower- circular economy baseline & opportunities assessment

Eunomia worked with ScottishPower, one of the UK’s largest energy providers, to support the delivery of a vital commitment in its Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Plan: developing a Circular Economy Baseline and Action Plan to help tackle emissions from the company’s Scope 3 carbon footprint

Glasgow City Council – designing and implementing real-world recycling systems for the host of COP26, Glasgow

Tackling Scotland’s recycling rate with Glasgow City Council and Zero Waste Scotland (2021 - 2023). We combined our in-depth expertise in designing and implementing real-world recycling solutions with our proprietary waste collection modelling tool Hermes, which allows a wide range of authority specific and collection system variables to be modelled at a level that no other industry tool can match.

TOMRA – designing a reuse system at city level for the takeaway food industry

Driving circularity in packaging in the fast food industry to reduce both waste and greenhouse gases in order to protect the planet. We modelled a reuse packaging system for the takeaway industry, demonstrating the benefits of moving away from single use packaging. We then did cost analysis based on city-level implementation.

European Commission – establishing best practice policy for extended producer responsibility across the EU

Making the circular economy a reality by expanding expertise on extended producer responsibility. We established what best practice looks like for EPR in the EU.

Podback – making coffee pod recycling a reality

Designing and implementing the first voluntary extended producer responsibility (EPR) scheme in the UK in partnership with Podback. We designed a kerbside collection service for coffee pods and brokered partnerships with local authorities. All set against a backdrop of a global pandemic and cost of living crisis.

Handelens Miljøfond, Minderoo Foundation, TOMRA, Zero Waste Europe – managing materials for 1.5°C

Eunomia researched, developed, and published a white paper[1] and report[2] proposing a new EU regulatory framework to accelerate Europe’s transition to a circular economy.

WWF and Reloop – global treaty to end plastic pollution

Eunomia delivered three studies to inform negotiations for a new global treaty to tackle plastic pollution. For WWF, we conducted a deep dive into some core components of the treaty, exploring pollution risks, control measures, and reuse applications. In a separate study, we supported Reloop to draft a position paper that set out priority elements for the treaty.

DESNZ & Defra – unlocking resource efficiency

Eunomia, working in consortium with WSP and the University of Leeds, led a programme of research to identify resource efficiency measures for UK industrial sectors and understand their associated challenges and opportunities.

Assessing climate impact: reusable systems vs single-use takeaway packaging

TOMRA, Zero Waste Europe, Reloop. Eunomia modelled the greenhouse gas emissions from reusable takeaway food containers compared to single-use equivalents.

Ball Corporation – the 50 states of recycling

Eunomia collaborated with Ball Corporation, a leading manufacturer of aluminium packaging, to conduct a comparative assessment of packaging recycling rates in all 50 states of the US, building on our first-of-its-kind 2021 study.

Our experts

Joe Papineschi

Chairperson

Sarah Edwards

North America Director

Andy Grant

Technical Director

Emma Tilbrook

Managing Consultant

Peter Jones

Managing Consultant

Chris Sherrington

Head of Environmental Policy

Our Clients

Testimonials

Great team of experts. Helped us select priorities in a complicated unknown field.

Avery Denison

Working with Eunomia was incredibly easy. All members of the Eunomia team were happy to help with any questions we had and helped to ensure all relevant data was being captured to ensure a full carbon footprint was established for ourselves.

Inver House

Overall excellent experience - on an ambitious scope of work and a legislatively mandated short timeline. The process and report exceeded expectations.

Washington Department of Ecology

A really great experience. Staff were very understanding of our unique environment managing waste on the Isles of Scilly. They listened, were professional but friendly and provided great advice to us. The final report was excellent and has helped us enormously as we grapple with the complexities of our commercial waste service on the islands.

Council of the Isles of Scilly

Great experts, solution driven, very good knowledge of policy, technology and market related issues of circular economy - especially in the US market

Uber Eats

Knowledgeable and friendly staff - very trustworthy, ask good questions to ensure they understand what client wants

Environment Agency

Great team, very easy to work with and completed the work to a high standard, despite time pressure and changes to deadlines etc.

Joint Nature Conservation Committee

A perfect combination of professionalism and enthusiasm: Clarity and timeliness throughout the process. Everyone I worked with was professional, knowledgeable and brought infectious enthusiasm about their work, which inspired us.

National Children's Bureau

It was a seamless process. The team grasped the context quickly and were receptive to feedback and delivered on time. The team were very pleasant to work with.

Flora & Fauna

Very thorough and supportive, guiding us through the waste contract renewal, and the waste partnership itself. Much appreciated support.

Destination Bristol

A great team and a great experience. Professional and open relationships and communication.

University of the Western Cape

The Eunomia project team was a pleasure to work with, and helped create functional documents under a tight timeframe and some strict guiding language.

CDPHE