A 1 July 2026 report commissioned by the UK's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and authored by the University of Portsmouth's Global Plastics Policy Centre (GPPC) argues that the country's circular-economy activity is over-concentrated on recycling and waste management, leaving waste prevention, product design and reuse chronically under-resourced.

Titled Progressing Beyond Recycling for a Circular Economy, the study reviews research and innovation activity across six Defra-named priority sectors: food and agriculture, chemicals and plastics, electrical and electronic equipment, transport, textiles, and the built environment. It sits within Portsmouth's Revolution Plastics Institute and is intended to inform future Defra research, innovation and policy development.

Where is the UK activity concentrated?

The researchers found that the bulk of the UK's growing circular-economy effort clusters at the end of a product's life. The dominant interventions target recycling, waste recovery and consumer-behaviour campaigns. Far fewer initiatives address how products are designed, manufactured and used — the stages the report identifies as carrying the greatest potential to cut resource use and environmental impact.

UK reuse systems and design-for-repair programmes are the exception rather than the norm. Most funding and policy attention, the report concludes, flows downstream to collection, sorting and processing.

"Recycling remains a part of a circular economy, but it cannot deliver the transition on its own," said Dr Antaya March, Director of the Global Plastics Policy Centre at Portsmouth's Revolution Plastics Institute.

What are the structural shortfalls?

The study flags three specific gaps that the authors say limit the UK's transition:

• Design-stage intervention. Reuse systems and design-for-repair programmes remain underdeveloped relative to collection and sorting infrastructure.
• Research-to-market pipeline. Many pilots and demonstrators do not progress to commercial scale. The report finds "too few" ideas are reaching the market.
• Outcome measurement. Initiatives often count activity — tonnes collected, items diverted, events held — rather than reductions in waste, emissions or material use. The lack of impact metrics makes it difficult to assess whether projects are delivering circular-economy outcomes.

What does the report recommend?

March and her team call for coordinated action across government, industry and researchers, with policy and incentives that "support waste prevention and value retention rather than focusing solely on waste management." The recommendations include:

• Expanding reuse systems
• Supporting repair and refurbishment activities
• Improving product design
• Encouraging more efficient material use
• Developing better ways to measure impact
• Strengthening links between research, innovation and commercial deployment

The authors argue that unlocking these opportunities will require a mix of evidence, innovation and investment, alongside policy measures that allow circular business models to develop and scale.

"Greater attention to product design, reuse, repair and resource efficiency could help retain more value within the economy while reducing demand for new materials," March said.

What happens next?

The findings form an evidence base for future Defra research and innovation programmes. The report does not set binding targets or prescribe funding levels, but it identifies the sectors and intervention points where evidence, investment and innovation are currently limited.

The milestone to watch is how Defra uses the six-sector review to scope the next round of circular-economy programmes — and whether the department introduces outcome-based metrics that track prevention and value retention, not just recycling tonnage.