Recycled materials usage steadily declining globally: Report

Article From：fibre2fashion

 

 

Since 2018, the majority of materials entering the economy are new, with the proportion of secondary, recycled materials steadily decreasing, as per the Circularity Gap Report 2024 by Deloitte and Circle Economy Foundation. This decline is occurring despite the growing popularity of the circular economy concept, which focuses on reducing the consumption of virgin materials and maintaining the continuous use of resources.

The report pinpoints three critical areas for reform to hasten progress towards circularity: policy, finance, and employment. It emphasises the importance of government and industry leaders transitioning from mere commitments to concrete actions. This includes adopting policies and frameworks that encourage circular practices and discourage harmful ones, adjusting fiscal policies to reflect the true social and environmental costs of products and services, financing circular solutions to supplant linear norms, and ensuring a skilled workforce to support a just transition.

 

Accompanying the release of the report, Deloitte announced a unique partnership with Circle Economy Consulting, an impact consulting firm derived from Circle Economy Foundation. This collaboration aims to assist organisations in realising circular economy opportunities, spanning strategy design, transformation implementation, and progress measurement and reporting.

 

The partnership is poised to aid businesses in accessing a burgeoning market projected to reach between $2-3 billion by 2026, enabling them to reduce material extraction and enhance supply chain resilience. Leveraging the global expertise of Deloitte’s Sustainability & Climate practice, the collaboration will provide comprehensive support, including data analysis, regulatory navigation, organisational transformation with a focus on people and digital, and measurement and reporting.

 

“Leveraging the Circularity Gap Report, stakeholders are able to prioritise their circular roadmap based on a data-driven analysis. Policymakers, industry leaders, and financial institutions can agree on focus areas and work collaboratively on the systemic change needed to stay within our planetary boundaries,” said Ivonne Bojoh, CEO of Circle Economy Foundation. “To ensure the transition to a circular economy is just and fair, circular solutions must be designed with the world’s most vulnerable populations in mind, then these solutions will reduce inequalities across workforces and increase job opportunities worldwide.”

 

“Successfully piloting and scaling circularity requires close coordination across business functions and supply chains. Through our relationship with Circle Economy Consulting and Circle Economy Foundation we’ll bring insights from the Circularity Gap Reports directly to businesses to unlock value. Combined with Deloitte’s end-to-end capabilities, this allows us to create new solutions to help our clients scale circular transformation at the pace and the ambition needed to realise significant commercial opportunity and enable sustainable and resilient supply chains,” said David Rakowski, partner, Deloitte UK, who is leading Deloitte’s global circularity offering.