BT, Merck Lead the Way in Circular Economy Adoption
Two companies, BT and Merck Life Sciences, are leading the way in adopting circular economy practices. They aim to reduce resource consumption, waste, and supply chain risks by keeping materials and products in use for longer through reuse, repair, recovery, and recycling.
BT has set a goal of becoming a circular business by 2030 and supporting a circular technology and telecoms ecosystem by 2040. It is focusing on product design to reduce waste from network modernisation and recover resources from legacy infrastructure.
The company collected nearly 136,000 mobile devices through its trade-in services in the last year, with approximately 91% of them reused or given a second life. BT's Smart Hub 3.5 contains 95% recycled plastic, while Openreach's first green optical network terminator uses 85% recycled plastic.
Meanwhile, Merck Life Sciences is addressing the challenges of circularity in the pharma market by embedding sustainability at the earliest stage of product development. The company aims to achieve a 70% circularity rate across its business by 2030 and has already made significant progress with approximately 35% of its pipeline proving to be more sustainable.
Merk is also working on packaging through its SMASH and MPact programmes, which focus on reducing waste and improving material sustainability. The company is exploring product take-back and material recovery, including participating in a programme that aims to recycle 75% of returned injection pens.