It’s been a busy week! Let’s get stuck in.

ThredUp partners with Misfits Market to expand resale access. Through its Resale-as-a-Service model, ThredUp will power a new Clean Out programme allowing Misfits Market customers to trade in clothing for credit. The collaboration extends circular fashion into the online grocery space, widening resale participation. Read more.

ZigZag partners with Vinted Go to scale locker-based returns. The collaboration will integrate ZigZag’s returns technology with Vinted Go’s parcel locker network, expanding drop-off options for retailers and consumers. The move responds to rising demand for convenient, lower-impact returns infrastructure. Read more.

Reju and Goodwill spotlight Rochester as a textile-to-textile circularity hub. The partners celebrated the city’s growing ecosystem for textile recycling, highlighting expanded collection, sorting and regeneration capacity that feeds reclaimed fibres back into supply. Read more.

Apto and Tusaar partner to boost rare earth supply chain sovereignty. The collaboration will recover critical rare earth elements from retired technology, reducing reliance on imported virgin materials. The partnership strengthens domestic sourcing resilience for electronics and clean energy supply chains. Read more.

Alchemy highlights £23bn trade-in opportunity in used mobile market. The company’s latest research estimates that billions in potential resale value remains locked in unused devices due to low recovery rates and programme friction. The findings point to a major growth lever for OEMs and retailers looking to strengthen recommerce and extend device lifecycles. Read more.

Zalando moves deeper into family resale with kidswear expansion. Zalando has launched pre-owned children’s fashion across 14 European markets, enabling customers to buy quality-checked items and trade in outgrown clothing for credit. The rollout strengthens its recommerce proposition as circular options become part of everyday retail. Read more.

LG Energy Solution accelerates battery recycling investment. The company plans to scale its battery recycling and second-life operations, including expanding facilities that recover critical materials from EV cells to feed new production. The push reflects growing industry focus on securing battery supply chains and cutting reliance on virgin raw materials. Read more.

E.ON says waste heat reuse can improve data centre sustainability. The energy company highlights that capturing and redirecting waste heat from data centres into local heating networks cuts emissions and boosts community acceptance. E.ON’s analysis points to stronger demand for integrated heat-reuse solutions as digital infrastructure expands. Read more.

LyondellBasell updates its 2030 sustainability and circularity goals. The company has strengthened commitments to grow circular and low-carbon polymer production, expand advanced recycling capacity and reduce emissions across operations. The revised targets signal continued investment in scaling circular plastics systems. Read more.

Reekom invests €2m to scale textile revalorisation facility. The company is upgrading its French site to industrialise processes that convert textile waste into higher-value recycled fibres and materials. The investment will fund new equipment and capacity expansion as demand for circular textile solutions accelerates. Read more.

McKinsey positions AI as a catalyst for reverse logistics transformation. A new report argues that data-driven decisioning and automation can turn returns from a cost burden into a value recovery engine. Smarter routing and disposition strategies are highlighted as key levers for margin protection and competitive advantage. Read more.

Waste Management opens $90m AI-driven recycling plant. Waste Management has launched a highly automated recycling facility in Pembroke Pines, Florida, deploying AI and robotics to boost capacity, cut contamination and process plastics that were previously hard to recover. Read more.

Telstra showcases synthesiser built from reclaimed e-waste with The Avala. The telco collaborated with creative technologists to build a musical synthesiser using recycled electronic components, highlighting practical reuse of materials often lost to landfill. Read more.

UN outlines blueprint to slash plastic pollution through systemic action. A United Nations roadmap highlights how deep policy and market shifts, including reuse, recycling and circular design, could cut global plastic pollution by up to 80% by 2040 if widely adopted. The framework feeds into ongoing negotiations for a global plastics treaty targeting production and lifecycle impacts. Read more.

Ireland sets new three-year roadmap to accelerate circular transition. The government has published its Whole-of-Government Circular Economy Strategy 2026–2028, embedding circularity at the centre of national economic and environmental policy. Read more.

Brussels approves €400m Greek cleantech support package. The European Commission has cleared a €400 million Greek state aid scheme to accelerate domestic clean technology manufacturing. The funding will scale net-zero technologies and reinforce European supply chains through to 2030. Read more.

UK government embeds circular procurement into public tech sourcing. Defra is making a shift in its technology procurement by prioritising refurbished and remanufactured devices under its new End User Services contract, with up to 90% of laptops, phones and tablets now expected to be second-life units. Read more.

Chile expands restrictions under single-use plastics law. New measures widen bans on disposable plastic items in food and retail settings, tightening requirements around recyclability and certified alternatives. The move strengthens enforcement as Chile accelerates its national waste reduction strategy. Read more.

Barclays highlights circular economy as next-wave investment theme. In its latest energy transition outlook, the bank identifies resource efficiency, recycling and circular business models as attractive growth opportunities for investors. The analysis positions circularity alongside grids and storage as part of the infrastructure enabling long-term sustainable returns. Read more.

GSMA backs mobile climate and circularity startups. The organisation has launched a new innovation fund to support early-stage ventures using mobile technology to advance clean energy access and device circularity. Grants will target scalable repair, refurbishment and e-waste solutions in emerging markets. Read more.

Prenew raises €1.8m to expand refurbished gaming marketplace. The Finland-based startup will use the pre-seed funding to scale its refurbished gaming PC platform across Europe, investing in market expansion, operations and team growth. The model centres on extending hardware lifecycles through certified resale. Read more.

Have a great weekend and we’ll see you again next Friday.

Cheers to circularity,

#TeamCircularConnect #ConnectingTheCircularEconomy