Weekly News Wrap #1
1 August 2025
This week has been particularly dynamic for the intersection of the circular economy and digital innovation. We’ve seen significant developments ranging from new regulations leveraging digital tools for product traceability to breakthroughs in making AI and data centres more sustainable, and exciting innovations in circular product design. The commitment to integrate digital technologies for enhanced resource management, waste reduction, and transparent supply chains is gaining crucial momentum. Our roundup below highlights how digital advancements are actively accelerating the transition to a more circular future.
The past week brought forth compelling evidence of how digital technologies are becoming indispensable enablers of the circular economy. Key themes include the crucial role of Digital Product Passports (DPPs) in enhancing supply chain transparency, the growing efforts to leverage Artificial Intelligence (AI) for sustainable reporting and waste-to-value processes, and innovative approaches to making digital infrastructure itself more circular and energy-efficient. Furthermore, advancements in circular design and materials are increasingly integrating digital insights, while new policies and funding mechanisms continue to pave the way for a more circular future, often with a digital underpinning.
Circular Design & Materials Innovation
- Leading shoemakers like Adidas, Converse, and Nike are integrating reusable and recycled materials into their production. Adidas’s 3D-printed polyurethane slip-ons are designed for easier recycling, Converse is using upcycled crochet blankets, and Nike’s ISPA Link Axis is built for easy disassembly and incorporates recycled polyester and thermoplastic polyurethane from recycled airbags.
- Kenvue (makers of Tylenol, Neutrogena, Nicorette) is training its research and development teams to utilize a Sustainable Innovation Profiler tool. This tool integrates environmental metrics into product design by evaluating environmental footprint, carbon footprint, green chemistry, and packaging circularity, driving more sustainable product development.
- A recent WRAP study found no correlation between T-shirt price and durability, highlighting a critical area for improvement in sustainable fashion design and consumer education . Of the top 10 performers six cost less than £15, outperforming more expensive ones that cost up to £395.
Digital Product Passports & Supply Chain Traceability
- Digital Product Passports (DPPs) are poised to transform the fashion industry by acting as a digital ID for products, facilitating the collection and sharing of data across the entire supply chain. Upcoming EU regulations for textiles (ESPR), expected by late 2025 with compliant systems required by late 2027, represent a major opportunity for brands to boost accountability and embrace circularity beyond the point of sale.
- Ferrero is proactively enhancing its supply chain traceability using digital tools, like satellite tracking in partnership with Sourcemap and Starling, in anticipation of the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), demonstrating how digital systems can track commodity supply chains to ensure compliance and promote sustainability.
- In the food sector, UK retailers Tesco and M&S are employing Mondra technology to monitor supply chain emissions. This technology creates a digital “twin” of their supply chains, providing detailed insights into emissions hotspots and covering a substantial portion of the UK grocery market. Ocado Retail has announced extending its packaging traceability partnership with Polytag across its full in-house milk range.
- The Consumer Goods Forum has introduced a Common Data Framework to simplify data requests from retailers to suppliers, which will improve the precision of Scope 3 emissions reporting and enhance supply chain transparency.
AI for Circularity & Sustainable Digital Infrastructure
- Google is moving to enhance the sustainability of its digital infrastructure by integrating geothermal systems into its next-generation datacentres. This aims to supply power with consistent carbon-free energy, including its first investment in long-duration energy storage (LDES) or CO2 batteries developed by Energy Dome . Similarly, Iberdrola plans to power new Spanish datacentres entirely with clean energy.
- Start-ups are innovating with new chip designs to address AI’s high energy consumption, specifically focusing on developing more energy-efficient chips for AI inference processes, which could lead to significant cost and energy savings.
- SandboxAQ, a Google spinoff, is set to use Quantum AI to help Saudi Aramco transform captured carbon dioxide into valuable products, such as advanced materials and plastics, showcasing AI’s potential in waste-to-value initiatives.
- For professionals in the waste sector, the CIWM is offering an introductory course on “Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Data within Waste and Resource Management” underscoring the increasing relevance of digital tools in this field.
Circular Economy Policy, Funding & Business Models
- The Government Digital Sustainability Alliance (GDSA) Circular Economy working group has published its recommendations paper on gov.uk, and is developing a new toolkit focused on measuring embedded carbon across product lifecycles.
- An interesting debate has emerged questioning whether Trump’s Tariffs could inadvertently accelerate the move to a Circular Economy.
- The concept of “Shippable Microfactories” is gaining traction, suggesting a shift towards more localized production. This approach captures the benefits of off-site fabrication while enabling goods to be produced closer to consumption, aligning with circularity principles by reducing transport emissions and enabling easier local material flows.
Waste Management & Resource Recovery
- The NHS Supply Chain is actively integrating circular economy principles into its procurement, product design, and operational practices to effectively manage healthcare waste (156, 000 tonnes or 400 jumbo jets) and reduce carbon emissions. NHS England launched a Clinical Waste Strategy in 2023, aiming to reduce clinical waste by 80% and eliminate unnecessary disposal through innovative reuse and processing methods.
- The GDSA’s “IT Reuse for Good charter” is promoting a ‘reuse first’ approach for end-of-life IT assets within government. This initiative encourages refurbishing and donating devices to digitally excluded individuals, thereby embedding a truly circular approach to technology management.
