Part of: Circular Economy

Enabling a Circular Economy

Explore our key resources and guides to learn more about how you can help accelerate the built environment's transition to a circular economy.

The shift from a linear economy to a circular economy is a considerable transition, one that requires concerted efforts from all parts of society and collaboration across industries. The circular economy can reduce whole life carbon emissions, impacts on nature, and waste. There are many actions we can take now to increase the circularity of built assets, from planning and design to in-use management and how we treat buildings and materials at their end-of-life. The reports and guidance below all provide actions to support the transition to a circular economy.

Systems Enablers for a Circular Economy

System Enablers for a Circular Economy highlights systemic barriers and the policy and market-based solutions to enable the built environment industry to shift from a linear to a circular system. The eight enablers identified provide a toolkit to support the transition.

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These resources build on the eight enablers to support action:

How to implementation guides

UKGBC has published implementation packs on Reuse and Products as a Service to assist with the adoption of circular economy principles in built environment projects. They outline the roles and actions for construction clients, design teams, project managers, and other stakeholders along a building’s supply chain.
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Materials Passports Guides

These practical and technical guides give an overview of Materials Passports and their crucial role in promoting circularity and reuse in the built environment. They cover why materials passports are important, key stakeholders to engage, and outline the data and information to include in a passport.
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Circular Economy Metrics

UKGBC’s system enablers for a circular economy report listed Metrics, benchmarks, and indicators and one of the eight enablers which will help the built environment transition to a circular economy. This deep dive authored by members of the Circular Economy Forum explores best practice approaches for measuring circular economy principles in the built environment.
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Blogs

Events

Past event
Members Only

Resource Use Forum x Managing Risk

Join us for this special session, part of the Resource Use Forum, focusing on the intersection of resource use and circular economy with finance, value and risk.
13 Jul, 2026
Event
Online

Circular Economy

The built environment needs to move away from the linear economy and embrace circularity. This will reduce waste, carbon emissions and our impact on the natural world.
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