Circular Economy

Moving away from the 'take, make, use, discard' approach of linear economic models is essential if the world is to transform to sustainability. Circular economy models design out waste and work to retain value within the supply chains by reusing and recycling materials into products and services.

The Circular Economy Network at ISEP is led by a steering group of members from different sectors of the economy. The role of the steering group is to oversee the delivery of an annual work programme of activities, including webinars, workshops, reports and much more.

Join the circular economy network

Opting to become a member of the network means you'll receive updates about developments in this sphere and the work of the steering group, invitations to apply to join the steering group or get involved in other ways, requests to participate in consultations, and notification of relevant webinars and other ISEP or external events. Use the button below to navigate to the portal and select 'circular economy network' in your subscription preferences.

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Circular economy practical guidance

Circular economy policy engagement

Useful definitions

Circular economy

A circular economy is an alternative to a traditional linear economy (make, use, dispose) in which we keep resources in use for as long as possible, extract the maximum value from them whilst in use, then recover and regenerate products and materials at the end of each service life. This presents an obvious solution to the problem of resource scarcity and is key to reducing our carbon emissions from products and services.

A ‘circular’ approach seeks to:

design out waste and pollution – products are designed so that they can be readily disassembled and re-used at end of life
maintain value (of products and materials) by designing for repair or remanufacture to extend lifecycle(s). Products last longer and are designed to do so
regenerate natural systems, i.e. through composting and anaerobic digestion
develop new/alternative organisation models, e.g. organisations move away from selling products to selling the service of that product.

Circular thinking

Circular thinking can be applied to organisations’ processes and products to identify new market opportunities and reduce waste costs such as swapping disposable packaging for reusable, returnable packaging. Another example could be enabling and facilitating reuse by modifying the service offering from ‘sale’ to ‘hire’.

Circular economy steering group members

Tim Danson

Director - Sustainability & Energy, Pick Everard

Stephanie Palmer

Head of Sustainability, Wienerberger Ltd

Fleur Ruckley

Head of Implementation, Topolytics

David Smith FISEP

Technical Director – Sustainability Solutions, Arcadis Consulting (UK) Ltd.

Andy Whyle FISEP

Sustainability Consultant, S-AW

Wendy Rayner

Head of Circular Economy, NHS Scotland

Debbie Ward

Director and Consultant, Cirklo Consult, The Rebuild Site and Alliance of Sustainable Building Products

Caroline Cochrane

Sustainability Associate, Cundall

Ian Humphreys

Committee Member

Catherine Weetman

Circular Economy Strategic Advisor, author of A Circular Economy Handbook, host of the Circular Economy Podcast

Jason Light

Head of Sustainability and Energy, University Hospital Southampton Foundation Trust

Mark Edwards

Head of Sustainability, London Gatwick

Rhythima Shinde

Senior Sustainability Advisor, KLH Sustainability

Mayowa Afolayan

Brewing Shift Manager, Heineken UK

Mohamed Afy-Shararah

Director of Engineering and Management of Manufacturing Systems, Cranfield University

Liz Warwick

Owner, Lansdowne Warwick

Dr. Rhythima Shinde is a Senior Sustainability Advisor at KLH Sustainability, where she leads on social value strategy, equity-centred design, and ESG integration in the built environment. With a PhD in Environmental Policy from ETH Zurich, her research focused on affordability and equity in housing policy. She has worked across Europe and Southeast Asia, including at ThomasLloyd, where she supported ESG-aligned investment strategies in infrastructure and energy. Rhythima has also held academic leadership roles at TEDI-London, designing modules that embed justice, social impact, and systems thinking into engineering education. Her cross-sector experience includes co-founding social innovation platforms like Energy Bazaar and Humane Warriors. Rhythima advises on responsible innovation and circularity in infrastructure, and regularly collaborates with organisations such as the Royal Academy of Engineering. She is passionate about equitable transitions and actively contributes to research, capacity building, and policy work on social sustainability.

An industrial engineer with a strong base for international collaboration on topics such as sustainable manufacturing, circular economy, operations management, and digital modelling and simulation. With a background as an industry professional, consultant, researcher, and lecturer. I have designed and led projects on domains such as lean manufacturing, operations management, carbon accounting, life cycle assessments, energy and resource efficiency. Currently, I am the Director of Engineering and Management of Manufacturing Systems MSc at Cranfield University, and I am the Regional Chair for the MENAT region. I lead a research team focused on the transition to circular fashion, and I am a public speaker on operations management, manufacturing, sustainability, and circular fashion.

Liz is a passionate environmental consultant delivering strategic ESG, sustainability and resource management advice, and corporate governance expertise. She is a chartered surveyor who has focused on environmental issues since the mid-2000s and works with construction companies, architects, global corporates and local authorities. She also has a speciality in the creative industry working with film studios and live music events. She works with organisations to help them recognise the impacts of materials in their operations and supply chains and advises on ways to reduce the embodied carbon and design out waste. This includes circular economy principles, sustainable value chains, low-carbon materials, lifecycle analysis and carbon management plans. She is a Chartered Environmentalist and member of ISEP, a BREEAM AP, WELL AP and Fitwel Ambassador focusing on environmental strategies and wellbeing. She is also Chair of Trustees for an environmental charity in the live events sector.