Academics for Circular Economy

EU Legislative Interests

Members of our research network actively explore and contribute to the evolving policy landscape of the circular economy, both within and beyond the EU. Their work spans a broad range of European legislative instruments and policy agendas, such as the Waste Framework Directive, the WEEE Directive, the Ecodesign Directive, the Batteries Regulation, the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation, the Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA), and the newly launched Clean Transition Dialogues under the Clean Industrial Deal. Our researchers also engage with the Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP), Digital Product Passport initiatives, ESPR (Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation), Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), and data-driven tools like Data Spaces for CE. Beyond Europe, several members work on CE policy intersections in the Global South and cross-border material flows, contributing a global perspective to CE governance. PhD students and early-career researchers in our network engage with these frameworks through applied research on system design, digital tools, value chain interventions, and behavioral aspects of CE. For example, members investigate how regulatory developments like the ESPR and Right to Repair shape lifecycle extension services and OEM strategies. Others model systemic impacts of regulations such as the CRMA on material flows and design-for-circularity across textiles, electronics, plastics, and real estate. Our members contribute frameworks for evaluating systemic readiness, develop feedback loops between policy instruments and actors, and visualize implementation challenges across member states. Multiple members are directly involved in shaping or informing policy. One member contributes to ESPR and Right to Repair policy design by bridging lifecycle information from OEMs to inform value retention strategies. Another proposes frameworks for Born Circular Start-ups to support early-stage CE innovation policy. Others develop system dynamics models for understanding policy impacts in sectors like textiles and plastic packaging or propose cross-sectoral collaboration frameworks that support co-development of CE policies with industry and municipalities. From highlighting financial incentives in real estate to assessing greenwashing risks in textile regulation, these diverse perspectives feed into ongoing policy debates across sectors. Our researchers are also closely aligned with EU research agendas. Many are involved in Horizon Europe or nationally funded CE projects, allowing them to test research outputs in real policy labs. They evaluate tools like Digital Product Passports, contribute to tax and EPR reform for packaging, and inform German national CE initiatives. Importantly, they identify the misalignment or fragmentation between instruments such as WEEE, EPR, and Ecodesign, offering recommendations for greater coherence, equity, and systemic impact. In sum, our network offers a bottom-up, evidence-based lens on how CE policies are interpreted, contested, or enabled in practice. We serve as a bridge between academic knowledge production and applied policy needs, producing actionable insights, surfacing unintended trade-offs, and identifying innovation pathways that align with the EU Green Deal and global SDGs. Through collaborative dialogue and interdisciplinary work, our members are shaping a just, innovative, and globally inclusive circular transition.

Communication Activities

In the last three and a half years, community members have shared their research in monthly online meetings, provided feedback to papers in progress, early research ideas and dissertation proposals to improve academic quality and practical relevance. Recently, published articles have been presented by and discussed with their authors. Further, resources were built and exchanges took place in these sessions in terms of conference planning to increase attendance to interdisciplinary conferences and experience sharing, e.g., concerning research stays, career planning, and publication planning. Several members found co-authors, relevant conferences and contacts to organizations from practice through the group. Members of our group have actively contributed to national and EU-level circular economy initiatives through their individual research and professional engagement. Some have presented findings from Horizon projects (e.g., CIRCUSOL) to the European Commission and DG Environment (e.g., CIRCUSOL), while others have contributed to Germany’s National Circular Economy Strategy, engaged in international standardisation, or developed circular procurement blueprints in collaboration with public institutions. Additional contributions include working with NGOs such as WWF, facilitating multi-stakeholder workshops, and advising on policy-relevant toolkits. Many members continue to seek opportunities to present their work and collaborate with policy bodies. The formalisation of our organisation willis intended to support and strengthen such engagements, enabling early-career researchers to contribute more directly to shaping evidence-based and system-aware circular economy policies.

Interests Represented

Does not represent commercial interests

Member Of

We are currently in the process of formalising our group in order to be able to join associations.

Organisation Members

Below are the webpages of our founding members. We can provide you a list of all 184 members if required. https://www.leuphana.de/en/institutes/imo/persons/alexa-boeckel.html https://www2.wiwi.rub.de/en/persons/leonie-schlueter/ https://www.climate.ox.ac.uk/people/priya-saikumar https://hamburgcodingschool.com/en/team/teresa-holfeld/ https://www.aau.at/en/team/markovic-milica/ https://www.openinnotrain.eu/results/johanna-zeller/ https://www.khas.edu.tr/en/academic-staff/2687/ https://www.jackstaedt.uni-wuppertal.de/en/about-the-jackstaedt-center/team/ansicht/julian-lauten-weiss/

Additional Information

Our group has operated as an informal network and is being formalised now. The registration process is expected to be completed in June, and July 2025 will mark our first financial year. All events organised as an informal group were either zero cost (online events) or covered by member's.