Material Focus: Circular Electricals Fund

Overview

The £1m Fund offers funding of up to £150,000 per project. If you’re working on sustainable electricals, circular product design, or technology that cuts waste and carbon, they want to hear from you.

Objectives

This Fund aims to support industry bodies, start-ups, non-profits, companies and research institutions exploring new, innovative or significantly improved initiatives that apply and develop circular economy principles, reducing environmental impact and enhancing resource efficiency. 

Funding is available for organisations working on projects within one or more of the following areas of innovation:

• Materials: encouraging the development of technologies and processes that optimise the use and recovery of raw materials and reduce waste associated with electronic products
• Products: supporting innovations that improve the durability, repairability, and upgradability of consumer electricals by extending their useful life
• Business models: promoting business models that prioritise service over ownership, which can reduce waste and encourage product reuse.

Projects can begin from October 2025.

Successful applicants have the opportunity to collaborate with electricals producers, retailers, local authorities, recyclers and waste management companies.

Who can Apply

Applications will be accepted from a wide variety of organisations as long as they are appropriately registered organisations.

This includes:

• Industry bodies
• Non-profits
• Private companies
• Compliance schemes
• Universities
• Research institutions.

Eligible Expenditure

It is expected that the majority of projects will be delivered across a 12-month period, although this may differ on a case-by-case basis, for example, where seasonal factors are important to consider.

Project examples include, but are not limited to:

• Materials
  • Advanced recycling technologies: developing new methods for recovering technology metals and other valuable materials from e-waste
  • Bio-based or sustainable alternatives: researching and commercialising bio-based / non-fossil alternatives or recycled materials for use in electricals
  • Modular design for recycling: creating electronic components that can be easily disassembled and sorted for efficient recycling
  • Closed-loop supply chains: establishing industry collaborations to improve the collection and reintegration of recycled materials into new products.
     
• Products
  • Repairable & modular electricals: designing consumer electricals (phones, laptops, appliances) with easily replaceable components to extend their lifespan
  • Self-healing materials: innovating materials that can repair themselves to enhance product durability
  • Right to repair initiatives: developing open-source repair guides, toolkits, or marketplaces for replacement parts
  • Upgrade-friendly designs: creating devices with modular upgrades to extend their relevance and functionality over time.
     
• Business models
  • Trade-in & refurbishment programmes: establishing scalable take-back schemes to refurbish and resell used electricals
  • B2B sharing platforms: developing platforms for businesses to share high value electronic equipment to reduce redundant purchases
  • Deposit return schemes: implementing incentives for consumers to return end-of-life products for responsible recycling or refurbishment.

The grant can be used for:

• Equipment and materials
• Salaries or wages
• Logistics
• Testing and innovation
• Communications campaigns
• Health and safety
• Data collection
• Other