Today’s newsletter sponsor: Globacomm
Globacomm helps telecom operators and recyclers unlock the remaining value in surplus network equipment. With operations in the UK and the Netherlands, Globacomm buys surplus and refurbished equipment, connecting hardware with buyers worldwide while helping operators reduce procurement costs through reuse.
Operators and recyclers: your surplus has resale value. Find out what your equipment is worth or explore a partnership here
Industry News
Collaborations and Partnerships:
Happy Returns integrates with TikTok Shop to offer box-free, label-free returns. Participating US sellers can offer returns across nearly 10,000 Return Bar locations, with items verified, consolidated and transported through the UPS network to streamline reverse logistics and reduce fraud. Read more.
Primark signs multi-year agreement with Circ to scale textile-to-textile recycled polyester. Primark’s first long-term offtake agreement with a textile-to-textile recycler will introduce polyester made from textile waste into its clothing from 2029, supporting Circ’s first industrial-scale facility in France. Read more.
Carbios, Patagonia, PUMA and Salomon validate textile recycling on industrial production lines. The consortium transformed complex textile and plastic waste into recycled polyester T-shirts, producing more than one tonne of recycled PET with performance equivalent to virgin polyester. Read more.
SolarAuction.com and Buckstop connect real-world solar transactions with asset valuations. The partnership will feed secondary-market transaction data into Buckstop’s valuation platform, helping asset owners assess equipment values and identify recovery pathways across resale, reuse and recycling. Read more.
Business Developments:
DoorDash launches doorstep returns service with nationwide US rollout planned. Dasher Returns lets consumers pay a flat $7.99 fee to have eligible retail purchases collected from their home and returned to the store, with no box or label required. Read more.
American Battery Technology Company approved for up to $100m in recycled black mass exports. The US Department of Commerce licence allows ABTC to export recycled black mass under specified terms, supporting commercial operations at its Nevada battery recycling facility. Read more.
Ionic Technologies submits plans for £89m rare-earth recycling facility in Belfast. The proposed facility would recover and refine rare earths from end-of-life magnets and manufacturing waste, creating 55 jobs and safeguarding a further 25. Read more.
Renault highlights industrial-scale progress in automotive circularity. The Future Is NEUTRAL collected and dismantled 400,000 end-of-life vehicles in 2025, returned 11 million reused parts to circulation and recycled almost two million tonnes of materials. Read more.
Market and Regional Developments:
EU Circular Economy Act set for November following delay. The European Commission is now expected to present the legislation in mid-November after its original Q3 timetable slipped, with the proposal focused on strengthening the single market for circular products and secondary materials. Read more.
BSI and ISO launch first international standard for food loss and waste management. BS ISO 20001 provides organisations across the food supply chain with a standardised framework to identify, monitor, reduce and report waste, developed with experts from more than 30 countries including WRAP. Read more.
Ireland launches international declaration to scale surplus food redistribution. The government-backed initiative calls on countries and organisations to strengthen sharing and redistribution systems, helping prevent waste while supporting food security, climate action and a more circular economy. Read more.
Five companies appointed to deliver logistics and processing for UK Deposit Return Scheme. SUEZ, CIRQLR, Re.Group, Bywaters and Re-Gen will operate across ten regions, supported by six processing facilities and lines and around 400 new recycling vehicles ahead of the scheme’s October 2027 launch. Read more.
Thrifting reaches an all-time high on Google Search in India. Searches for “how to thrift” increased 850% over the past year, while “thrift store near me” rose 600% and interest in “circular fashion” surged 2,500%. Read more.
Investment News
M&A:
CTR Group acquires fashion rental platform Hirestreet to scale subscription model. The deal gives Hirestreet access to CTR’s infrastructure, which processes more than 1,500 tonnes of stock each week, while connecting rental with resale through fellow CTR-owned business Thrift+. Read more.
AO World acquires Jessops, adding Camera Jungle to its recommerce portfolio. The deal brings Jessops’ second-hand photography platform alongside musicMagpie, with AO highlighting the complementary businesses as it strengthens its presence in recommerce and refurbished technology. Read more.
Investment and Financing:
AMP secures $70m to expand AI-powered waste infrastructure in Virginia. The financing will fund a new sortation facility and organics processing system, with the regional network designed to process more than 500,000 tons of municipal waste annually and divert at least half from landfill. Read more.
ERI invests in Cyclic Materials to expand rare-earth recovery partnership. The investment builds on the companies’ existing collaboration, with rare-earth-bearing feedstock from ERI’s global operations to be supplied exclusively to Cyclic for recovery and processing. Read more.
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Have a great weekend and we’ll see you again on Monday.
Cheers to circularity,
#TeamCircularConnect #ConnectingTheCircularEconomy