The government was elected in 2024 on a hopeful message of change, with a manifesto promise to create a circular economy, which was swiftly backed up with the announcement of a taskforce to develop a new strategy with the aim of supporting growth and new jobs, accelerating action towards net zero.

But, without deeper understanding of why the previous government’s attempt to deliver a more circular economy failed, current ambitions could suffer the same fate and fail to meet expectations.

For this policy insight, we interviewed and surveyed parliamentarians, officials and advisers involved with the previous administration to understand  barriers to progress and offers lessons for how the current government and circular economy advocates can avoid these and deliver meaningful change.