101 Blockchains was named a leading performer in another round of G2 reports, and all the credit goes to our beloved learners and our dedicated team. The G2 Summer Report 2026 is out, and we have won the title of ‘Momentum Leaders’ in two categories. We are also excited to share that we received the ‘Leader’ tag among small businesses in the online course providers category. Our total badge count in the Summer Report 2026 by G2 reached 33, setting another benchmark to beat.

Our team at 101 Blockchains has been consistently trying to bring you the best professional training resources to help you boost your career. We started off as an independent blockchain research and training platform, and within a few years, we have become a trusted destination for professional training in emerging technologies for learners all around the world. As we expand our library of courses and certifications, our sole commitment revolves around delivering high-quality learning resources. Let us show you a glimpse of what we have achieved in the Summer Report 2026 by G2.

Check Now: 101 Blockchains Reviews at G2

G2 Reports: Offering More than Just Badges

Many readers, especially newcomers to our platform, might have assumed that all our excitement surrounding G2 is because of badges. We don’t deny the fact that we look forward to the badges we earn in every G2 report as they offer a measurable metric of our performance. However, the primary reason for which we wait for the reports by G2 is the credibility of the G2 platform.

G2 is the leading software review platform in the world right now, and some of the world’s biggest software buyers have commended the platform for its integrity and effectiveness. You will find only authentic user reviews for software solutions on G2, and as a result, it is the ideal place to look for the best academic solutions tailored to your needs.  

The badges we earn from G2 represent the appreciation we have received from actual users of our products. As a “Momentum Leader” in two categories, 101 Blockchains has achieved a huge milestone after a long time. The badges not only show us how we are performing amazingly well as an online course provider or technical skill development platform, but also shed light on our presence in different markets and the quality of our services.

Check 101 Blockchains’ Performance in:
G2 Spring 2026 Reports
G2 Winter 2026 Reports
G2 Fall 2025 Reports

Unraveling a Glimpse of Our Achievements in G2 Summer Report 2026

G2 has awarded us with 32 badges in the categories of “Online Course Providers” and “Technical Skills Development” in their Summer Report for 2026. We have also achieved the “Users Love Us” badge again in this new report by G2. 

1. Online Course Providers 

We have earned 16 badges in the “Online Course Providers” category, including the ‘Momentum Leaders’ badge. It is a powerful credential for us as it is given only to companies that achieve faster growth in

• User satisfaction
• Web and social media presence
• Employee count
• Review volume

The ‘Momentum Leader’ validates our rapid rise as online course providers and solidifies our reputation as a professional training platform. Another significant achievement for 101 Blockchains in the G2 Summer Report is the ‘Leader Small Business’ badge. The ‘Leader’ badge boosts our confidence by showcasing that we have successfully catered to user needs with our products.

You should also know that we have achieved 13 ‘High Performer’ badges in this category. We have not only earned the highest performance for different regions but also for different market categories, including enterprise and mid-market clients. Our ‘Easiest Admin’ in this category also signifies how reliable we are as a professional training platform with online courses. 

2. Technical Skills Development

101 Blockchains has also earned the ‘Momentum Leaders’ badge in the “Technical Skills Development” category along with the ‘High Performer’ badge. We are excited to be crowned as the fastest-growing technical skill development platform by G2 in their new report. As a ‘High Performer’, we have successfully delivered higher customer satisfaction scores and expanded our market presence.

You will also get a better impression of 101 Blockchains G2 report performance in this category in the 11 other ‘High Performer’ badges. We have achieved the best performance in the United Kingdom, Canada, Europe, and EMEA, and the top vertical that we have served is the small business category.

101 Blockchains has also achieved three other badges in this category that indicate the versatility of our performance in the G2 reports.

• Ease of Use: Indicates that our users find it easier to interact with our courses and accredited certification programs.
• Easiest Admin: Suggests that our team learning plans offer better ease of administration from a single dashboard.
• Best Meets Requirements: The biggest achievement for us in the latest report by G2 is the ability to provide products that align with the requirements of our users.

3. Users Love Us

The most coveted achievement for 101 Blockchains in every G2 Report is the “Users Love Us” badge. We have successfully added this credential to our list of achievements in all G2 reports published till now. It is a special badge for everyone at 101 Blockchains as it shows that learners have used our resources to achieve their career goals, and we served them well.

The “Users Love Us” badge is reserved by G2 for platforms that get the most positive reviews from users. Therefore, we can say that the badge represents the love and belief of our learners in our platform. We use the badge not only as a credential for our performance but also as motivation to offer better products and services.

Elevate you career with comprehensive Skill Paths and start your learning journey with top learning resources!

What Do We Take Away from the G2 Summer Report 2026?

The latest Summer Report by G2 has brought us 33 badges, including two ‘Momentum Leaders’ badges and a ‘Leader Small Business’ badge. Our team is excited to have received recognition for our efforts to help learners with their professional development efforts. However, we always look for the next report by G2 for the following reasons.

• Measuring Our Growth

The new G2 reports showcase a clear glimpse of our performance in different markets worldwide. We have achieved ‘High Performer’ badges for different regions in the world and for enterprise and mid-market clients. These badges represent the scale of our growth and the ways in which we reach out to learners worldwide.

• Maintaining Quality Benchmarks

Receiving badges from G2 continuously in their quarterly report shows that we have maintained the standards of quality in our learning resources. We offer accredited certifications, which have to follow the highest standards of professional training. Qualifying for G2 badges is only possible when you are delivering the best, and we have been doing the same for years.

• Genuine Recognition

We believe that the G2 Summer Report 2026 brings us recognition from new genuine users. Our G2 badges clearly indicate that we have actually helped learners with our training courses and certification programs.

Our Roadmap for the Future

The badges we have received in the latest report by G2 have elevated our confidence and commitment to help our beloved learners. We are planning to introduce new learning resources focused on emerging technologies like artificial intelligence. Our dedication to creating the best learning resources will continue growing stronger with the recognition we received for our efforts. For the next phase of our journey, we want to welcome new learners and help them achieve their career goals.

A Note of Gratitude for You

Every badge we have received in the G2 Summer Report also belongs to our learners who trusted us. We have reached this stage in our journey because of our learners and their genuine reviews of our products. You have not only recognized the effectiveness of our courses and accredited certifications but also pushed us to grow bigger and better. We extend our heartfelt gratitude and hope that you will continue showing your unwavering support to our platform in the future.

Final Thoughts 

The new summer report by G2 adds more milestones to our long list of achievements as a professional training platform. We have grown with the trust and feedback of our learners, and the 33 badges by G2 prove the same. Our presence in global markets has been expanding, and at the same time, we have maintained the highest level of customer satisfaction. We are indebted to every genuine learner who has used our products and provided honest reviews for 101 Blockchains. The whole team at 101 Blockchains is also grateful to G2 for being a genuine critic of our offerings. 

The post 101 Blockchains Recognized as a Leader & Momentum Leader in G2 Summer 2026 Reports appeared first on 101 Blockchains.

Charlotte Davies, Senior Consultant – Resource Efficiency & Circularity at Beyondly, explains why future-proofing the circular economy doesn’t start with emerging technologies or system reform, but people.

When we talk about the future of the circular economy, conversations often focus on policy, infrastructure and investment. We discuss systems like Extended Producer Responsibility, deposit return schemes, digital product passports, and emerging recovery technologies.

I have no doubt these systems will play a vital role in shaping the future of our sector. But there is another challenge that receives far less attention: who will deliver this transition?

Like many people working in waste and resources, I did not grow up dreaming of a career in the sector. I wanted to work in an environmental role and make a positive impact, but being less proactive than most, I found my way into the sector through a friend’s recommendation.

In contrast, my brother actively searched for opportunities within the environmental sector, focusing on ‘energy’ and ‘renewables’ and now works in energy procurement.

I think our experiences reflect a far wider trend among many young professionals. People increasingly want careers in sustainability, where they can make a difference, but waste and resources are rarely the first sector that comes to mind, and as with me, people fall into it.

That presents both a challenge and an opportunity.

Purpose and impact matter more than ever

The good news is that the waste and resources sector offers exactly what many young professionals are looking for: the chance to create meaningful impact.

Across all industries, early career professionals are increasingly motivated by purpose. Salary and progression remain important, but many people also want to know that their work contributes to solving real-world challenges.

Environmental issues and climate change are high on the agenda for younger generations entering the workforce. Few sectors offer such a direct connection between daily work and positive environmental outcomes.

From improving local resource efficiency and recycling processes to supporting circular business models and AI-driven recovery systems, the work has a tangible, visible impact.

Every tonne diverted from landfill, item reused, repair scheme introduced, and circular model implemented contributes to a more sustainable future. For a generation increasingly seeking purpose in their careers, that is a compelling proposition.

Another shift that cannot be ignored is the growing importance of organisational purpose. Increasingly, people want to work for organisations that stand for something beyond profit alone. A recent Deloitte study found that:

• 89% of Gen Z respondents said a sense of purpose is important to their job satisfaction and wellbeing.
• 47% of Gen Zs and 49% of millennials have left a job because it lacked purpose or didn’t align with their values

This is reflected in the growing interest in initiatives, such as B Corp certification, employee volunteering programmes, and community investment projects. Interestingly, many circular economy initiatives naturally align with these values. While reuse hubs, repair centres and social enterprises can create jobs, support local communities and reduce waste.

The circular economy is not just about managing materials differently. It is about creating value in ways that benefit people, communities and the environment. For younger professionals, that broader sense of purpose is often a significant attraction.

An industry that continues to evolve

There is also a perception challenge that the sector must overcome. For many people outside the industry, waste management remains associated with traditional collection and disposal activities. While these functions remain essential, they represent only part of a much broader and increasingly dynamic sector.

Today’s waste and resources industry is evolving rapidly. Digitalisation, AI, data analytics, resource recovery, carbon reporting, producer responsibility, and circular economy strategies are creating entirely new career pathways.

Organisations are diversifying their services and expanding their expertise far beyond traditional waste management. This evolution is helping to create opportunities for people with a wider range of backgrounds and skill sets.

Importantly, it is also creating workplaces where people want to stay. Major employers, such as Biffa and Veolia, have recently been recognised in national workplace rankings by the Sunday Times, demonstrating the sector’s growing focus on employee wellbeing, development and workplace culture.

While attracting talent remains important, retaining it is equally critical. Many people who enter the sector discover opportunities they never expected and build long, rewarding careers.

The AI worry

Of course, no discussion about the future workforce would be complete without mentioning artificial intelligence. Concerns about AI replacing jobs are becoming increasingly common across almost every sector.

It is a conversation that many early-career professionals are having as they consider their long-term career prospects. The waste and resources sector provides a useful example of how technology can enhance rather than replace careers.

AI-enabled sorting systems, improved data analysis and digital resource tracking are changing how the industry operates, but they are also creating demand for new skills. As the sector evolves, the challenge will be ensuring today’s workforce is equipped to work alongside emerging technologies rather than compete against them.

Raising awareness of the opportunity

Perhaps the biggest challenge is not attracting people once they discover the sector. It is ensuring they know it exists in the first place. Many students, graduates or incoming professionals are aware of careers in sustainability, renewable energy and conservation.

Far fewer understand the breadth of opportunities available within waste, resources and circular economy roles. If we want to future-proof the sector, we need to do a better job of showcasing the opportunities available and the impact these careers can have.

This means stronger engagement with schools, colleges and universities. It means promoting apprenticeships and graduate pathways; it means highlighting success stories and providing visible role models for the next generation; most importantly, it means changing perceptions.

As my term as CIWM Early Careers President comes to an end, I find myself reflecting on the fact that I rarely entered this sector at all. Had a friend not pointed me in the right direction, I may never have discovered the opportunities it offers.

The future challenge is not simply attracting people into the sector; it is ensuring they know the sector exists in the first place and the ever-more exciting opportunities it offers.

The circular economy will undoubtedly require new policies, investment and technologies. But ultimately, its success will depend on the people who design the systems, engage communities, develop solutions and drive change.

If we want to future-proof the circular economy, we must future-proof the workforce and the businesses that employ them.

The post Future-proofing the circular economy starts with people appeared first on Circular Online.

Circular economy expert Wayne Hubbard explains why cities are the engine room of the circular economy.

The circular economy has been a buzz term for more than a decade now, but we are yet to see circular approaches embedded in local authorities, across geographies, up and across national government policy, and deep into the communities where everyday consumption happens. In short, we are yet to see the circular economy scale.

I believe the solution to the scale problem lies in cities, and that is because cities have four structural characteristics that combine in a way that no other actor or institution can replicate or match.

1. Density

Diverse populations and institutions concentrated in a defined geography mean that pilots can be run faster, more cheaply, and be more representative than almost anywhere else. A repair cafe, a materials reuse hub, or a clothing hire scheme can be tested and demonstrate real results within months, not years.

2. Networks 

Cities sit at the intersection of local government, business, civil society, and national policy in ways that no single sector can replicate independently. While I was CEO of ReLondon, we called this the ‘pinch point’ between policy and delivery. The ability to bring a landlord, a retailer, a community group, and a local authority into the same room, around a shared geography, is powerful. Crucially, cities also talk to each other across geographies, forming powerful global networks that are independent of national governments. (ICLEI, C40, GCoM).

3. Political scale 

A city-level position carries disproportionate weight with national government. A single local authority making representations on extended producer responsibility or deposit return schemes may find it difficult to get its voice heard. A megacity or a coalition of cities, speaking with one voice and backed by operational evidence, is very hard to ignore.

4. Diversity

Urban populations reflect a nation’s full range of incomes, cultures, and circumstances. Solutions that hold up in a city, particularly if they work across different neighbourhoods and communities, are far more likely to be successful elsewhere.

Why cities are unique

No other single type of actor has all four of these characteristics. National governments have political reach but are removed from local delivery. Businesses have delivery capability but often have limited convening power. Community-based organisations have place-based trust but limited scale.

The great thing is that towns and cities are everywhere, and most people globally live in them. The UN’s ‘World Urbanisation Prospects 2025’ provides some new and compelling data on cities and towns. The UN has developed a new and consistent approach to assessing urbanisation with their ‘Degree of Urbanisation’ methodology (DEGRUBA). Using national data and satellite imagery, they have discovered that over 80% of the world’s population now lives in towns and cities. Previously, relying on national definitions, the UN had thought that this number was nearer 50%.

Using this new methodology, cities are defined as having at least 1,500 inhabitants per km2 and a minimum population of 50,000. They are home to 45% of the world’s 8.2 billion people. Two-thirds of all global population growth between now and 2050 is projected to occur in cities.

The 12,140 cities tracked by the UN range from 33 megacities of 10 million or more, through 429 medium-sized cities of between one and five million and down to 9,807 very small cities with populations below 250,000. 96% of the world’s cities have fewer than one million inhabitants. The interesting thing is that about half the world’s city dwellers live in larger cities (above 1 million) and the other half live in smaller cities (below 1 million).

When we think about where the circular economy needs to take root, we tend to think that the largest cities would lead. In fact, except for London and Paris, it is the medium cities that have led the way; cities like Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Phoenix. Like London and Paris, these cities all have the resources, the networks, and the political profile to act.

They are also largely in the global north. So what is needed is twofold:

• examples from medium-sized cities are needed to influence the megacities and the smaller cities in the global north;
• and also take root in the global south, where the biggest cities are bigger and where much of the global population growth will come from.

So how can this happen? Working in London for many years, I have come to think about scale not as a single axis but as three distinct dimensions, drawing on the framework developed by Riddell and Moore.

In this framework:

Scaling out means building tools, frameworks, and approaches that others can use without you having to be in the room. Methodologies for material flow analyses of food, textiles and packaging, originally developed for London, have been adapted by other cities. Communications campaigns, such as Repair Week or Circular Economy Week, create shared brand value that any partner can amplify. Free to access toolkits and published learning do the same thing at a lower cost.

Scaling up means turning delivery evidence into policy change. Demonstrating that ambitious circular approaches are operationally feasible shifts policy debate from whether to how. Barriers to circularity can be evidenced. A unified city’s voice, backed by real data from the ground, lands differently with a government minister than lobbying from any individual organisation.

Scaling deep means embedding circular change in specific places and communities. High streets are a particularly powerful lever. In London, 95% of residents live within 10 minutes of a high street, which makes them a natural concentration point for repair services, reuse infrastructure, and circular business support.

Community-level repair and reuse networks carry a kind of trust that institutional programmes rarely achieve, and they address cost-of-living pressures directly. Alongside the environmental benefits are a plethora of social value co-benefits, such as addressing digital exclusion, food poverty, and loneliness.

What happens when cities scale successfully

These three dimensions reinforce each other. Deep delivery generates evidence that enables upward policy influence. That policy influence creates conditions for wider replication. Replication, in turn, feeds better learning back into the next round of delivery.

If a single city can scale in three dimensions, a network of cities can create a reinforcing system in which learning circulates, improves and generates new insights.

Larger cities tend to generate research, commission toolkits, and run ambitious pilots. Smaller cities contribute something equally important: refinements that make large-city approaches transferable to different contexts, innovations suited to less dense environments, and neighbourhood-scale evidence that larger cities might struggle to produce.

The relationship can therefore be genuinely reciprocal. As more cities apply, adapt and share their learning, the quality of what circulates improves. The network becomes more useful the more varied its participants.

Networks to support this work already exist: the EU’s Circular Cities and Regions Initiative (CCRI), the European Circular Cities Declaration, coordinated by ICLEI, and the European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform.

In the UK, we have formed the Circular Cities Network, and so we may well have access to fewer dedicated mechanisms since leaving the EU, but that gap is a reason to act, not to wait.

If cities are the answer, what action could they take right now? Here is a relatively simple proposition: what would happen if every city, regardless of size, asked a person or a small, dedicated team to develop three key circular economy recommendations across its municipality?

A practical exercise, with a brief to identify where the city is spending money on linear systems that a circular approach could save, such as through procurement, where local businesses could capture value currently leaving the city as waste, making the local economy more resilient, and where residents face cost-of-living pressures that reuse, repair, and sharing services could directly address.

During my time at ReLondon, we supported over 500 London-based SMEs in adopting circular business models, generating local economic activity, creating employment and reducing both waste and emissions. A functional repair and reuse economy is one of the most direct practical responses to both cost-of-living issues and resilience, and it is one that cities, of all actors, are best placed to build.

There is an oft-used but unattributed quote: ‘while nations talk, cities act’. Cities have the density, the networks, the political voice and the community relationships to accelerate the transition to a low-carbon circular economy now, at a meaningful scale, in all three dimensions. The engine room is already built. The question is whether we are prepared to use it.

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Fibre-based composite (FBC) packaging producers may have been ‘significantly overcharged’ as part of the packaging Extended Producer Responsibility (pEPR) scheme, new research finds.

According to the analysis, commissioned by ACE UK (The Alliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment), the £461 per tonne pEPR fee for FBCs has been ‘incorrectly calculated’, with the true figure being £34/t lower and potentially as high as £92/t.

Applied to the fees producers paid for FBC materials last year, this suggests that fees could have been overpaid by between £6.3m and £13.7m.

ACE UK has submitted the report to PackUK, the scheme administrator for the pEPR scheme, and called on them to ‘urgently review’ future fees.

A team of researchers at compliance scheme Beyondly authored the review, led by packaging experts Charlotte Davies, CIWM Early Careers President, Dr Liz Wood, and Alex Hilton.

The report identifies several areas where it says current assumptions materially overstate the cost burden applied to FBC packaging.

The most significant of these relates to the cost to local authorities of collecting packaging for recycling or disposal, with the scheme currently charging £509/t to collect FBC compared with £264/t for paper and card.

The report says this disparity is despite the two waste streams having ‘very similar properties’.

As the collection figure is calculated based on the volume of packaging rather than its weight, Beyondly found that this may also overstate the amount of space taken up by FBCs in two ways.

Firstly, the report says the model ‘appears to assume’ that more of the FBC category is made of liquid cartons than is actually the case, which has a significant impact as cartons take up more space in collection vehicles.

Secondly, the report found the model assumes that non-liquid FBCs have the same bulk density as the card category, which is predominantly made up of bulky corrugated cardboard boxes.

By using available data on both the liquid/non-liquid split and the estimated bulk density of non-liquid FBCs, Beyondly found that the collection costs applied may have been ‘significantly overstated’.

Commenting on the report, Charlotte Davies, Senior Consultant – Resource Efficiency & Circularity, Beyondly, said the current fee appears to be ‘disproportionately high’ for fibre-based composites, and data revisions could reduce the disposal fee by approximately 8%.

Ben Powell, Head of External Affairs at ACE UK, commented: “It is clearly implausible to charge nearly twice as much for local authorities to collect a tonne of FBC than a tonne of paper and card.”

“The impact of this discrepancy alone seems to have cost brands millions of pounds more than it should have done last year.”

“We look forward to continuing to work constructively with PackUK to ensure disposal fees are fair for all packaging types, which is essential if we want to make our shared sustainability goals a reality.”

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The UK government has said it intends to publish its delayed Circular Economy Growth Plan “soon”, but has not given a firm publication date.

In a written parliamentary answer published on 15 June, Defra minister Mary Creagh said the government remains “committed to transitioning towards a circular economy where resources are kept in use for longer and waste is designed out”.

Creagh was responding to a question from Labour MP Kerry McCarthy, who asked the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when the Circular Economy Growth Plan will be published.

Creagh said: “We intend to publish the Circular Economy Growth Plan soon.”

She said the plan will set out how the government will deliver “a more circular and more prosperous economy”, while Defra continues to take forward policies linked to its circular economy ambitions.

The Circular Economy Growth Plan was originally expected to be published in October last year but has been delayed.

The plan is expected to set out the government’s approach to moving away from a throwaway economy

The plan is expected to set out the government’s approach to moving away from a throwaway economy by keeping products and materials in use for longer through measures such as reuse, repair, refurbishment and remanufacturing.

In April, 19 organisations, including CIWM, Green Alliance and SUEZ, signed a joint letter to the Prime Minister calling for the plan to be released.

The letter said there is “incredible political and public support” for measures that keep products in use for longer, particularly repair, refurbishment and reuse.

In May, more than 50 businesses and trade associations wrote to Defra urging the government to publish the plan, warning that delays were creating uncertainty for businesses looking to invest in circular economy models.

Green Alliance said at the time that the plan had been “held back for over six months” and warned that further delay could harm momentum towards a more resilient, resource-efficient economy.

The government established the Circular Economy Taskforce in 2024 to help develop the plan, bringing together experts from business, academia, civil society and the waste and resources sector.

The taskforce has been advising the government on how to reduce waste, increase resource efficiency and support economic growth through a more circular economy.

The post UK Government gives no firm date for delayed Circular Economy Growth Plan appeared first on Circular Online.

Circular economy policies are failing to make full use of bio-based materials such as timber, cotton, rubber, leather and natural fibres, according to a new report from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.

The foundation said many national circular economy strategies focus on finite materials, while treating bio-based materials mainly as substitutes for fossil-based or non-renewable resources.

However, its report, Circular by Nature, argues this approach risks missing the wider economic and environmental benefits of keeping bio-based materials in productive use for longer.

The report analyses 13 national circular economy strategies and 18 bio-based materials policy frameworks from countries around the world.

It found that circular economy and bio-based material policies often operate separately, despite both being linked to climate action, biodiversity, waste prevention and resource security.

According to the foundation, bio-based materials should not simply be seen as renewable commodities to be grown, extracted, processed and then sent to energy recovery or disposal.

Instead, it argues they should be designed for repair, reuse, refurbishment, recycling and safe return to biological systems where appropriate.

The report says bio-based materials are only truly renewable if the ecosystems that produce them have enough time and space to regenerate.

The report says bio-based materials are only truly renewable if the ecosystems that produce them have enough time and space to regenerate.

It warns that when extraction outpaces recovery, and where soil health, biodiversity or land use are damaged, materials that appear renewable can become effectively finite.

The foundation said better policy alignment could help countries capture more value from bio-based materials by supporting regenerative production, local processing, recirculation systems and secondary material markets.

It also said this could reduce pressure on virgin resources, strengthen supply chain resilience and create skilled jobs across agriculture, manufacturing, repair, recycling and biorefining.

The report sets out five policy pillars for governments, including circular design standards for bio-based materials, safer and more effective material circulation, financial incentives for regenerative production, investment in infrastructure and cross-border collaboration.

These measures could include reviewing waste classifications that prevent biomass and residues from being used as secondary feedstocks, reducing VAT on repair and secondary applications, and using eco-modulated extended producer responsibility schemes.

The foundation said stronger traceability and transparency will also be needed to ensure bio-based products are not linked to land conversion, biodiversity loss or poor working conditions.

The report comes as more than 100 countries have adopted national circular economy roadmaps or action plans.

However, the foundation warned that many of these policies still do not fully address how bio-based materials are sourced, used across multiple applications and eventually returned safely to natural systems.

It said aligning circular economy and bioeconomy policies would help shift the focus from replacing one material with another to designing systems that preserve value, reduce waste and regenerate nature.

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The UK could face a shortage of recycled aluminium needed for key industries unless it rapidly expands domestic collection, sorting and processing capacity, Make UK has warned.

New analysis from the manufacturers’ organisation suggests the UK aluminium scrap sector will need to grow by 25% every year to meet future industrial demand linked to the government’s Modern Industrial Strategy and Critical Minerals Strategy.

Make UK said domestic industry could require up to 6 million tonnes of recyclable aluminium scrap by 2035, as overall aluminium demand rises to around 8 million tonnes.

However, the organisation warned that rising exports of aluminium waste and scrap could leave UK manufacturers without access to a material needed for defence, clean energy, automotive production and digital technologies.

According to data cited by Make UK, UK exports of aluminium waste and scrap reached 624,314 tonnes last year, a 43% increase compared with 2016.

Shipments to India nearly doubled over the same period, reaching 198,779 tonnes, while exports to the United States rose sharply last year.

The size of the prize is significant, with UK aluminium scrap collection and sorting alone needing to grow by 25% each year

Make UK said the trend risks undermining the UK’s ability to retain value from secondary raw materials, particularly as aluminium becomes increasingly important to low-carbon manufacturing and supply chain resilience.

Daniel Paterson, director of sector specialisms at Make UK, said: “The size of the prize is significant, with UK aluminium scrap collection and sorting alone needing to grow by 25% each year.

“But this important opportunity will be lost if the UK continues to export a critical material that our future economic growth sectors and national security and resilience depend on.”

Make UK is calling for investment in domestic sorting and pre-processing capacity, stronger collection and enforcement standards, and targeted measures to retain certain aluminium alloys within the UK.

It also urged the government to engage with the EU over potential export restrictions, after the European Commission began examining measures to reduce the flow of aluminium scrap out of Europe.

Aluminium is widely regarded as a key circular material because it can be recycled repeatedly without losing quality. Recycling aluminium also requires significantly less energy than producing primary aluminium.

Make UK said keeping more aluminium scrap within the UK would support industrial growth, reduce exposure to global supply chain disruption and help secure feedstock for manufacturers using recycled materials.

The warning comes amid growing concern that secondary raw materials are becoming strategically important to industrial policy, net zero and national security.

Make UK said failure to act could mean manufacturers move production overseas in search of better access to aluminium scrap markets, putting jobs, investment and supply chain resilience at risk.

The post UK risks losing critical aluminium scrap to overseas markets, Make UK warns appeared first on Circular Online.

Artificial intelligence has introduced large-scale changes in the domain of healthcare within the last few years. You can notice use cases of artificial intelligence in optimizing decision-making flows and automation of administrative tasks in healthcare. Business leaders and users in the healthcare industry want to understand AI in healthcare benefits and risks to build a balanced perspective on applications of artificial intelligence in healthcare.

• NVIDIA conducted a survey in which 85% of respondents claim to increase their AI budgets in healthcare in 2026 (Source).   
• Healthcare is the core topic in more than 5% of all ChatGPT messages worldwide (Source).
• Generative AI has the potential to generate annual revenue of $60 billion to $110 billion in the pharmaceutical and medical product industry (Source).  

AI has found a lot of use cases in the domain of healthcare with the assurance of diverse benefits. You must have come across examples of AI driving improvements in personalized medicine and diagnostic accuracy. As a matter of fact, AI delivers many advantages in healthcare, including cost reduction and better quality of healthcare services. Every successful AI adoption strategy for the healthcare sector requires special attention to the risks associated with AI. Understanding the benefits and risks of implementing AI in healthcare will help you design balanced strategies to embrace artificial intelligence. 

How Does the Healthcare Sector Use Artificial Intelligence?

The ideal approach to understand the benefits and risks of using AI in healthcare requires learning about the use cases. The healthcare industry has witnessed sudden growth in AI applications, especially in diagnostics, treatment, and care delivery. AI algorithms capable of analyzing massive volumes of data in electronic health records, patient history, and medical images have been delivering more accurate and enhanced diagnosis. Furthermore, AI has also created new possibilities for developing personalized treatment plans that achieve the desired results. 

Anyone who has been following the AI space closely will also know how AI analytics serve as a pivotal strategy in optimizing healthcare delivery. The search for answers to “What are the benefits of AI in healthcare?” would also emphasize how different AI technologies offer distinct advantages.

• Machine learning models drive personal health assistants and AI chatbots, which have emerged as new trends in personalized healthcare delivery.
• Deep learning algorithms contribute to more comprehensive and accurate analysis of medical images, such as X-rays and MRIs.
• Natural language processing algorithms help with the interpretation of unstructured medical data, thereby ensuring efficient management of patient records and optimal decision-making.

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Unraveling the Benefits of AI in Healthcare Systems

One of the distinct highlights in the applications of AI in healthcare is the assurance of benefits for healthcare providers as well as patients. The benefits of AI in the domain of healthcare help you understand its broader implications and why it is an inevitable requirement for healthcare.

• Streamlining Tedious Administrative Tasks

Healthcare service providers claim that the burden of administrative tasks is one of the biggest challenges for them. The time and resources invested in scheduling appointments, tracking patient histories, billing, and reviewing insurance claims can be invested in more critical areas. Healthcare staff can leverage the benefits of artificial intelligence in healthcare with automation of repetitive tasks. As a result, they can focus on tasks that call for more personal interactions and critical thinking. AI reduces manual intervention in administrative tasks, thereby reducing risks of errors in patient records, billing, and insurance claims.

• Personalized Patient Care and Monitoring

The next crucial addition among advantages of artificial intelligence in healthcare revolves around the element of personalization. You must have noticed the sporadic growth in adoption of healthcare wearable devices, mobile healthcare and wellness apps, and home monitoring systems. AI can collect real-time patient data from these points and generate crucial insights that will help healthcare providers notice anomalies. Artificial intelligence introduces a personalized approach to care in which timely interventions prevent minor health problems from escalating into critical issues.

• Enhanced Accessibility of Healthcare

You should also notice how AI-powered mobile health apps and telehealth services have revolutionized healthcare. People who could not enjoy easy access to specialized medical facilities can rely on these solutions to get the best quality of healthcare. Patients in rural areas and remote communities can connect with healthcare professionals through video consultations, supported by AI-driven diagnostics tools. Artificial intelligence also facilitates translation of medical information into different languages, thereby breaking cultural and linguistic barriers to healthcare access. 

• Reduced Operational Costs

The value of automation that comes with artificial intelligence applications in healthcare exceeds beyond simplifying administrative tasks. You can pick any list of “AI in healthcare benefits” and find how AI reduces operational costs through improved diagnostic accuracy, reduced hospital readmissions, and automation of routine tasks. The reduction in operational costs with AI helps healthcare organizations allocate more resources to advanced medical research and essential services. Most important of all, artificial intelligence provides an effective solution for healthcare providers to manage budget constraints with ease.

• Real-time Data Analytics

The utility of artificial intelligence in the healthcare sector is not limited to automation and the resulting cost reduction. You should also know that doctors and healthcare professionals are leveraging AI for collection, processing, and analysis of large datasets to obtain relevant and accurate information in real-time. The real-time insights offered by AI help care providers arrive at optimal clinical decisions. Healthcare providers can ensure comprehensive assessment and improvement of procedures or outline preventative steps to improve the quality of care. 

• Clinical Trials and Drug Discovery

You cannot think about the benefits of AI in healthcare without shedding light on how AI has transformed the drug development process. AI models can create simulations of molecular interactions and identify the promising compounds for drugs or predict drug toxicity. Most important of all, the applications of AI in drug development also help in flagging potential risks in early phases. As a result, the drug discovery pipeline becomes faster and ensures significant cost reduction. Artificial intelligence also helps with faster patient selection in clinical trials and monitors adherence, thereby ensuring that new treatments arrive faster.

Enroll now in the Mastering Generative AI with LLMs Course to discover the different ways of using generative AI models to solve real-world problems.

What are the Risks of Using AI in Healthcare?

The potential of AI to transform the healthcare industry should not drive away your attention from the risks. You should search for “AI in healthcare risks” before coming up with strategies to incorporate artificial intelligence in healthcare use cases. Awareness of risks alongside benefits of AI in healthcare will help you craft a balanced approach to AI adoption.

• Ethical Concerns and Bias

AI systems can amplify the bias in their training data and in the healthcare sector; this could lead to discrepancies in delivering quality care. Therefore, healthcare professionals should deploy AI technologies with caution and ensure adequate representation of all patient demographics in the training data. It will also help in avoiding ethical concerns emerging from biases in the training data of AI-powered healthcare systems.

• Data Privacy and Security 

Healthcare data is very sensitive and the most vulnerable target of cybercriminals. Using AI systems in healthcare requires feeding them with extensive patient information, thereby increasing data privacy and security risks. It is important to note that data breaches can have a negative impact on patient trust and land up healthcare providers in legal disputes. The growing use of AI in healthcare calls for more complicated data governance that demands strict compliance with privacy standards.       

• Depending Too Much on AI

The most critical risk that comes with using AI in healthcare is over-reliance on artificial intelligence systems. AI can reduce the opportunities for human interaction, and since the patient-care provider relationship rests on trust, empathy, and communication, it can be a threat. Depending too much on AI can reduce the quality of care, and healthcare professionals may end up interacting less with their patients.

Want to understand the importance of ethics in AI, ethical frameworks, principles, and challenges? Enroll now in Ethics Of Artificial Intelligence (AI) Course

Final Thoughts 

Artificial intelligence has created new opportunities in the world of healthcare. The overview of AI in healthcare benefits and risks shows that while AI delivers promising benefits, it also puts up some challenges. Artificial intelligence introduces significant improvement in diagnostics and streamlines administrative processes alongside personalizing patient care. At the same time, AI also introduces risks of bias and data privacy. Learn more about use cases of artificial intelligence in healthcare now.

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More retailers will now be exempt from hosting a DRS return point, the scheme administrator Exchange for Change has announced.

Exchange for Change, the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) administrator, has announced that more retailers can now apply for a ‘size-based exemption’ from hosting a DRS return point.

Retailers will also be able to apply for an exemption based on proximity, heritage or listed building restrictions, site access, or lack of access to utilities.

As part of DRS regulations, retailers in urban areas with a retail footprint of less than 100m² are automatically exempted from operating a return point for the scheme, which is set to launch in October 2027.

The new announcement means that retailers with a sales area of between 100m² and 199m² in urban settings and rural retailers with less than 200m² of sales area will also be able to apply for an exemption.

The legislation only applies to the schemes in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, as Wales withdrew from the process of developing an aligned DRS last year.

Commenting on the changes, Russell Davies, Exchange For Change CEO, said: “Retailers will play a fundamental role in transforming how we increase recycling and reduce litter in every corner of the UK through the DRS.”

“This package of support has been developed following extensive consultation with industry and is intended to help retailers of different sizes make the best choice for their business, whether that’s installing an RVM or applying for an exemption.”

Exchange for Change, which will act as the body providing approval for exemptions, says the extension will be contingent on there being sufficient local provision of return points.

While grocery retailers with a retail space above 200m² can also apply for an exemption based on size, the new criteria keeps the presumption against granting an exemption to those greater than or equal to 200m².

In April, the DRS administrator confirmed £60 million would be made available to support retailers with the costs of installing return points, such as reverse vending machines (RVM).

The funding will be spread over the first three years the scheme is operational and is in addition to the Return Handling Fee (RHF), which covers the costs incurred by retailers when managing returned containers.

The proposed grant level is £6,000 per site and will be structured as three annual payments of £2,000, with the first payment made approximately three months after the scheme goes live in October 2027.

Exchange for Change confirmed the RHF payments will operate on a tiered basis across manual and automatic return points, and will provide for small to large volumes of returned containers.

The fees are:

Manual return points

• 3p per container.

Automatic return points

• Tier 1 – 5p per container, up to 225,000 in-scope items returned annually.
• Tier 2 – 1.3p per container, for annual in-scope returns in excess of 225,000.

The scheme administrator said the RHF will be reviewed early next year, prior to the scheme going live, and will continue to be reviewed annually to take account of new data available from producers and retailers.

The post Exchange For Change expands retailer DRS return point exemptions appeared first on Circular Online.

Mariana Figueira, LIFE INDESAL Technical Coordinator, ACCIONA Water Business, Sandra Martinez, Innovation Engineer, ACCIONA Water Business, discuss an innovative new circular project powering Europe’s water resilience.

From droughts to rising demand, Europe’s water systems are under pressure. That’s why the EU is embracing circular water solutions, positioning smarter, more resource‑efficient desalination at its heart for the first time.

Across the globe, water-related challenges, such as water scarcity and pollution, are escalating, putting our societies, economies, and the environment at risk.

Today, water scarcity already affects one-third of Europe. Globally, the number rises to 40%, and demand is expected to increase by 55% by 2050.

With only 1% of the world’s freshwater easily accessible, alternative sources are no longer a luxury but a necessity. However, outdated systems and unsustainable practices still impact water management.

Meanwhile, 97% of the Earth’s water is seawater. With the help of smart technologies, this vast resource can be tapped in ways that are economically viable and environmentally sound.

Meeting growing water challenges requires more than ambition. It demands innovation, and nowhere is this more evident than in desalination.

Instead of treating water as a one‑way, use‑and‑discard resource, Europe is shifting toward systems that recover, reuse, and recirculate water, along with the energy and materials tied to it. This marks a major step in strengthening long‑term water resilience across the continent.

Desalination, once seen as a last resort, is fast becoming a frontline solution to address water scarcity. Projects like LIFE INDESAL are rewriting the rules, striving to transform seawater into safe, affordable, and sustainable freshwater without compromising our climate goals.

By pioneering Low-Pressure Multi-Stage Reverse Osmosis (LMS RO), a novel integrated desalination system can reduce energy use, especially when paired with resource recovery technologies, such as Reverse Electrodialysis (RED) and Electrodialysis with Bipolar Membranes (EDBM).

By addressing water scarcity through this sustainable solution for producing safe freshwater, it is also possible to improve energy efficiency and optimise resource use.

Conventional desalination, while effective, faces two main challenges: reduction of energy consumption and sustainable brine valorisation. Addressing these challenges head-on through an integrated circular approach that relieves the pressure on high use of groundwater and surface water.

By incorporating the LMS RO technology, the system has the potential to reduce energy consumption compared to a conventional 2-pass desalination RO process while efficiently removing salts and other ions and molecules from the water, making it suitable for potable, agricultural and industrial uses.

LIFE INDESAL’s demonstration plant is operating under real conditions, offering a glimpse of a future where desalination is not just a technical fix, but a strategic investment in climate adaptation.

The demonstration plant is based at the Leading Experimental Accelerator in Desalination (LEAD®) at the San Pedro del Pinatar desalination plant in Murcia, one of Europe’s driest regions.

In this region, turning seawater into drinking water is essential for homes, farms, and local industries.

The demonstration plant integrates the project’s three core technologies (LMS RO, RED, and EDBM) into a single, fully interconnected process chain.

Rather than assessing each technology in isolation, the system was intentionally designed to operate as a continuous, side-by-side configuration, closely reflecting real conditions in desalination facilities.

By treating real water streams, the semi-industrial demo site provides essential information for the scaling up and further implementation of the technology on a larger scale.

The brine produced by LMS-RO technology is processed to become a resource: they flow into the RED unit, where the difference in salt concentration between two water streams is harnessed to produce renewable electricity.

The RED system is directly linked, both hydraulically and electrically, to the LMS RO process, creating a closed, circular flow of water and energy. The electricity generated from the brine’s salinity gradient feeds straight back into the desalination process, helping to offset part of the plant’s own power needs.

It’s a practical example of how circular design can turn desalination from a linear, resource‑consuming operation into a system that recovers value at every step.

The EDBM system closes another loop in the process by turning brine into something useful. Instead of relying on brought‑in chemicals, the demonstration plant was able to produce all the NaOH and HCl needed on site for cleaning the LMS RO membranes.

That shift makes the plant more self‑sufficient and cuts down on the transport, storage, and handling of external chemicals. This brine stream can be converted into valuable inputs that keep resources circulating within the plant rather than constantly bringing new ones in.

But this demonstration plant is just the beginning of the conversation, not the end. Europe needs a more circular and resilient development model aligned with its 2050 climate neutrality goals.

Recent advances, including the appointment of the first EU Commissioner for Water Resilience and the adoption of the Water Resilience Strategy, reflect growing political commitment to ‘an ambitious strategy for the EU to manage its water resources more efficiently and respond better to current water-related challenges’.

However, achieving real impact will depend on scaling up innovative solutions, such as LIFE INDESAL, and embedding them into national water policies. Europe cannot afford to wait until scarcity becomes a crisis.

Water is not just a natural resource; it is a critical infrastructure. Securing water future is not optional; it is essential. Investing in water resilience and circular approaches now is not only smart policy; it’s a practical way to guarantee a shared future.

The post Powering Europe’s water resilience through circular innovation appeared first on Circular Online.