Digital technologies such as AI can help to accelerate the shift towards a circular economy, businesses were told at the launch of a new UKRI-funded initiative to support the growth of sustainable business models.

Led by the University of Exeter in collaboration with nine UK universities and industry partners including the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Rolls Royce and SAP, the Digital Innovation and Circular Economy Network Plus aims to embed circular principles into digital innovation.

Professor Fiona Charnley, co-director of the Exeter Centre for Circular Economy, said: “We know most companies are now invested in both digital transformation and circular economy goals, with half of organisations implementing AI in their infrastructure and 55% of large businesses committed to circularity.”

“For the UK to meet its ambitions in AI and clean energy, we must embed circular economy principles at the design stage. By connecting partners across sectors, DICE+ will help build this capacity across the UK and beyond – creating digital innovations that are sustainable and using those innovations to supercharge the adoption of circular models.”

Despite growing investment in sustainability, the world is moving backwards on circularity, with the share of recyclable materials in the global economy dropping from 9% to 6.9% in recent years. At the same time, the transition to clean energy and digital solutions is creating new pressure on critical resources that are difficult to recycle at scale.

Darren West, global head of circular economy solutions at SAP, said: “We need circularity now because we’re hitting planetary boundaries. The good news is that circularity drives both sustainability and profit.

“We’re already seeing how AI can save hours on ESG reporting, or how digital product passports can help track and recover high-value materials. With new regulations like ESPR on the horizon, manufacturers must start designing modular, repairable, and traceable products. That’s where this network can help.”

The DICE+ network says that over the next three years it will fund research, industry placements and feasibility studies to with the two core aims of reducing the environmental impacts of digital technologies with circular principles – such as sustainable product design and reuse of materials – and using AI and digital tools to accelerate circular economy practices.

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