Circular Skills for a Net Zero Workforce: Our New Policy Brief

The Skills Gap Nobody Is Talking About

The transition to a circular economy is often framed as a technological and industrial challenge. New materials, new business models, new infrastructure. But there is another transition that receives far less attention: the skills transition.

Without a workforce equipped with the knowledge, competencies, and mindset required to support circular systems, the most ambitious policy frameworks will struggle to deliver. You cannot remanufacture products without skilled technicians. You cannot design for disassembly without engineers who understand circular principles. You cannot manage material flows without professionals who can think in systems.

What Our Research Found

Our new policy brief, 'Circular Skills for a Net Zero Workforce', examines the current state of circular economy education and training in the UK. The findings are sobering.

Circular economy principles are rarely embedded systematically across curricula or professional standards. Apprenticeship standards, which are designed to prepare learners for specific occupational roles, largely do not incorporate sustainability or circular economy competencies. And there is no widely adopted framework for defining what circular skills actually look like in practice.

The result is a fragmented mix of isolated initiatives: sustainability modules here, green skills programmes there, lacking the coherence and scale needed to support a genuine workforce transition.

Our Recommendations

The brief sets out six key recommendations. First, a national framework for circular economy competencies should be developed, providing a shared language for what learners should know and be able to do. Second, apprenticeship standards should be revised to include circular economy principles across relevant occupational areas.

Third, teacher and trainer development must be prioritised. Educators cannot teach what they have not been taught. Fourth, partnerships between education providers and industry should be strengthened, ensuring that learning is grounded in real-world practice. Fifth, funding and incentives should be aligned with circular outcomes. And sixth, monitoring and evaluation mechanisms should be established to track progress.

Why This Matters Now

The Circular Economy Growth Plan, the EPR reforms, the Simpler Recycling rollout. All of these policy developments will require people to implement them. Inspectors, engineers, designers, procurement officers, educators, community organisers. The workforce transition is not optional. It is a prerequisite for everything else.

We are sharing this brief widely and engaging with the Department for Education, the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education, and industry bodies to advocate for the changes it recommends. If you would like to discuss the findings or explore how your organisation can contribute, we would love to hear from you.