Reconomy, the global leader in circular economy solutions, today announces the launch and an initial investment of £1 million in CircuLab, a new innovation hub for sustainability research, located in Bucharest, Romania. The initiative aims to strengthen Reconomy’s circular economy capabilities for the benefit of its clients.
CircuLab will serve as a center for the company’s most advanced ideas in sustainability, environmental science, resource management, and chemistry. The hub will focus on developing new case studies, proposals, and working methods by sharing best practices, leveraging data analytics, exploring emerging technologies, and anticipating regulations. This initiative will help Reconomy build unique levels of performance in circularity, reinforcing its leadership position in the field and enhancing its ability to meet customer expectations by helping them reduce waste, conserve resources, close circularity gaps, and achieve significant material cost savings.
Additionally, CircuLab is designed to improve the circularity of Reconomy’s own operations and to create opportunities to further harness the benefits of the circular economy from the 8 million tonnes of materials it manages annually. It will also support the ongoing development of sustainability reporting across the Reconomy Group.
This new division is being developed by Reconomy’s sustainability leaders – Diane Crowe and Bianca Ifrim – and will be led by Torben Kristiansen, Chief Development Officer at Combineering, a Reconomy Group company.
CircuLab will operate alongside RecoTek, Reconomy’s internal delivery engine and technology scaling center, which already employs over 130 people, despite being launched just last year.
Reconomy had the honor of welcoming distinguished figures from Romania’s business and academic communities to the official launch. Among the attendees were Ambassador Uffe A. Balslev and Răzvan Stroe from the Royal Danish Embassy in Romania, highlighting Reconomy’s strong ties with Denmark, where CircuLab teams will also be located.
Guests also included Prof. Univ. Habil. Dr. Eng. M. Augustin Semenescu from the National University of Science and Technology Politehnica of Bucharest; Lecturer Dr. Constantin Cazacu from the University of Bucharest; and Magdalena Caramilea, Sustainability Director at Autonom Group and an award-winning sustainability leader.
The launch of CircuLab is part of Reconomy’s global “Close the Gap” campaign, aimed at reducing the global circularity gap. Recent studies show that only 6.9% of natural resources are reused annually, meaning that over 90% are lost or remain inaccessible for reuse. This initiative underscores Reconomy’s commitment to tackling resource waste and contributing to carbon emission reductions.
Guy Wakeley, Chief Executive of Reconomy, stated: “We are excited to launch CircuLab, the first initiative of its kind in our sector, which will transform our ability to advance the circular economy – both for our clients and within our own operations. With the global economy consuming natural resources faster than the planet can regenerate them, and markets becoming increasingly volatile, this is a timely and vital move. This new venture will not only help clients reduce their carbon footprint, identify savings on material costs, and improve profitability, but also supports Reconomy’s mission to create a waste-free world and to delay Earth Overshoot Day – the point at which humanity’s demand for resources exceeds what the planet can regenerate in a year.”
Diane Crowe, Group Sustainability Director at Reconomy, added: “CircuLab represents a strong collaboration between the group’s sustainability department and Reconomy’s research activity in Denmark, through Combineering. We are proud to play a leading role in addressing one of the most urgent challenges of our time: closing the circularity gap, reducing carbon emissions, and supporting companies in achieving economic growth through circular and sustainable means.”
Torben Kristiansen, Chief Development Officer at Combineering, said: “I’m excited to lead CircuLab at a time when closing the circularity gap has never been more critical. I look forward to working closely with Diane, Bianca, and our new colleagues to develop high-impact circular solutions and identify smarter uses for waste for our clients.”