Reconomy measures its circularity gap impact for the first time as it makes major sustainability progress in 2024
Reconomy, the leading international circular economy specialist, has today published its 2024 Annual Sustainability Report reflecting a year of significant progress against its sustainability targets. The report is available on the website here and a video announcing the launch of the report is available on this link.
Closing the circularity gap within Reconomy’s own operations as well as for customers
As a business focused on advancing circularity and creating a more sustainable, waste free world Reconomy was keen to measure the overall circularity of its own business operations to give it a clearer picture of its impact and to see how it can drive greater circularity progress. In 2024, Reconomy physically managed 2.3 million tonnes of its customers’ material – including returns – and virtually managed a further 4.2 million tonnes of materials such as packaging and batteries, with 45% going to closed loop recycling.
This represents a circularity gap of 55%, calculated using Reconomy’s own methodology based on the global circularity gap1 of 93.1%. Reconomy is actively working to reduce the gap through improved processes, innovative service models and a dedicated ‘Close the Gap’ campaign focused on collaborating with customers and partners across the value chain.
Reconomy also tracks its contribution to shifting the Earth Overshoot Day2 – the point at which global resource consumption exceeds the Earth’s ability to regenerate those resources. In 2024, Reconomy measured and estimated that its 2024 activities shifted the Earth Overshoot Day by 12 minutes3.
Strong progress against sustainability targets
Creating environmental and sustainable value: key achievements in 2024
- 13.9% absolute (market-based) decrease in Scope 1 and 2 combined emissions from 2023 – an absolute decrease of 6.3% from 2021 baseline
- 65.7% reduction (market-based/gross profit) in Scope 1, 2, and 3 intensity from baseline
- 95.6% of global electricity use from renewable sources
- 98.5% of all waste managed diverted from landfill
- 36.2% increase in electric vehicles (EVs) in the Reconomy fleet from 2023 to 2024
Creating social value: key achievements in 2024
- £1.5m of social value generated, £5.3m since 2018
- Colleagues volunteered a total of 2,305 hours
- 0.6% profit (before tax) committed to community investment
- 27 internships and 15 apprenticeships started
- 12,681 hours of training provided to colleagues
- 7% of employees completed sustainability engagement and training
Achieved a record number of sustainability awards and committed to leading by example
Reconomy achieved a number of awards including an overall EcoVadis Gold certification in 2024, with two brands – Valpak by Reconomy and RLG by Reconomy – receiving Platinum scores. EcoVadis is the world’s most trusted business sustainability ratings agency and this certification places Reconomy brands in the top 5% of companies globally for sustainability management. Additionally, Reconomy was awarded the Sustainable Business of the Year award at the Lloyds Bank British Business Excellence Awards and Impact Business of the Year at the City AM Dragon Awards.
Reconomy is committed to leading by example and was an early adopter of the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) framework to help measure and disclose nature-related risks and opportunities. In 2024, the Company introduced sustainability-linked pay for executives, ensuring that environmental and social impact is always prioritised in its growth. Reconomy also refreshed its sustainability strategy and strengthened its reporting. Additionally, it conducted its first double materiality assessment, a major step in making sure that the business remains focused on the topics that matter most to its stakeholders.
What our leaders said
Guy Wakeley, Group Chief Executive, said: “We are pleased to present this report to our stakeholders that demonstrates strong progress against our sustainability commitments and towards tackling one of the greatest structural and environmental challenges of our time.
“The global economy is overly reliant on the extraction of virgin materials to satisfy consumption demands, with only 6.9% of resources making their way back into the economy leaving a circularity gap of 93.1%. The exponential growth in material extraction is driving unsustainable levels of greenhouse gas emissions4. At Reconomy, we’re determined to decouple growth from resource use and reduce emissions by helping businesses close the circularity gap and keep resources in use for longer.
“We look forward to building on our progress and to continue working closely with our customers and all our stakeholders to advance circularity.”
Diane Crowe, Group Sustainability Director, added: “Over the past year, we continued to embed circularity and sustainability across our own business and as we strive to walk the walk. Having refreshed our sustainability strategy, strengthened our reporting and completed a double materiality assessment, we remain focused on making a material impact on the areas that are most important to our stakeholders and to leading the way towards a more circular and sustainable economy.
