More than 50 UK businesses have written to the government demanding the immediate publication of the Circular Economy Growth Plan, according to Circular Online.

The signatories, drawn from recycling, manufacturing and resource management, argue that continued delay now shapes investment in the wrong direction. Capital earmarked for sorting infrastructure, secondary material processing and product redesign is sitting uncommitted. Procurement teams cannot lock in long-term contracts for recycled content without a published framework.

The Circular Economy Growth Plan has been in development since 2023, when the previous government set out a vision to double resource productivity, halve residual waste per capita and accelerate the shift to secondary raw materials. The plan was intended as the central delivery document for those ambitions, pairing binding targets with funding streams and regulatory milestones.

What is the coalition asking for?

The letter calls on ministers to release the plan with:

• A defined delivery timetable
• Statutory recycling and reuse targets by material stream
• Reformed extended producer responsibility (EPR) fee modulation
• A public investment programme for sorting and reprocessing infrastructure
• Procurement rules that reward high-recycled-content products

Why is the delay commercially material?

Without those elements, the signatories argue, UK industry will lose ground to EU competitors operating under the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation and the revised Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation. Both already set recycled-content thresholds and product durability requirements. The UK sector, the letter says, is currently meeting those standards without reciprocal domestic demand pull.

Recyclers and brand owners report that the absence of a domestic plan is already affecting deal flow. Secondary commodity prices for polymers, paper and metals respond to regulatory signals; without a UK framework that mandates demand, recyclers face thin margins and limited offtake. Investment committee approvals for new MRF capacity and plastics reprocessing lines have slowed, according to industry briefings reported across the trade press.

Who is on the letter?

The full list of more than 50 signatories has been published by Circular Online. The coalition spans waste management operators, packaging producers, retailers, trade associations and materials processors. Several signatories have previously called for the plan's release through industry forums and parliamentary consultations.

What does the plan need to align with?

The coalition is pressing for alignment with the devolved administrations. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland each operate separate waste and recycling regimes. The signatories want a UK-wide framework that does not fragment the internal market for secondary materials, and that gives investors a single compliance horizon rather than four overlapping ones.

What happens next?

The decisive milestone is publication. Until the plan is laid before Parliament, the coalition has warned, the UK will operate without a coherent circular economy framework, with the sector facing the EU's regulatory perimeter without a domestic equivalent. The signatories are seeking a ministerial statement committing to a publication date within the current parliamentary session.

Defra has not, as of the report, set a date for releasing the plan. Industry will watch for any reference to it in the King's Speech, the Autumn Statement or a dedicated policy white paper. The next fiscal event, and the next legislative programme, will set the timetable.