The facility at Wilton Centre is the first operational deployment of DEScycle’s distributed, modular processing platform, designed to recover metals closer to where materials are generated rather than relying on centralised smelting or overseas processing. Operating at 250kg batch scale, the plant can process 50 to 100 tonnes annually during the demonstration phase and marks the company’s achievement of Technology Readiness Level 7.

The opening comes after industry minister Chris McDonald announced £50 million for domestic critical minerals production as part of the government’s Critical Minerals Strategy. DEScycle has partnerships with Cisco, which will supply materials to the facility, and Mitsubishi Corporation, which will evaluate commercial routes for domestically processed metals. The technology was developed from UKRI-supported research at the University of Leicester and scaled with the Centre for Process Innovation.

The largest site on the list is Northwich in Cheshire, with 281,000 tonnes of contaminated soil. Other sites with more than 100,000 tonnes include Pershore in Worcestershire (up to 180,000 tonnes of mixed shredded waste), Iken in Suffolk (121,000 tonnes of construction and demolition waste), Broadbridge Heath in East Sussex, Over in Gloucestershire, and Stapleford Tawney in London. Waste types across the full list range from construction and demolition material and mixed shredded waste to tyres, vehicles and asbestos.

The Environment Agency said it was restricted in the detail it could publish to avoid prejudicing ongoing enquiries and enforcement action, but committed to releasing more site-specific information by summer 2026.

EMR will use its EV battery, end-of-life vehicle and research expertise to identify and recover magnet-containing components. The consortium also includes HyProMag, Mkango Rare Earths UK, Less Common Metals and the University of Birmingham. Recovered materials will be processed and remanufactured into new automotive-grade neodymium-iron-boron magnets for return to UK manufacturing.

The project is supported through the DRIVE35 programme, delivered in partnership with the Advanced Propulsion Centre UK and Innovate UK, with £3.2 million in government funding. It builds on EMR’s involvement in other DRIVE35 projects including CircularREEconomy and MOBIUS, which are developing approaches to recovering critical materials across the automotive sector.

The evoZero cement gains its near-zero carbon credentials from carbon capture and storage at Heidelberg Materials’ Brevik plant in Norway, which captures around 50 per cent of the facility’s emissions - approximately 400,000 tonnes a year. Rather than shipping cement from Norway, the carbon reduction is transferred to locally sourced UK cement through an Environmental Attribute Certificate, with traceability for each Edgemere 2.0 order.

Heidelberg Materials is also building a carbon capture facility at its Padeswood cement works in north Wales, expected to be operational in 2029. That project is designed to capture around 95 per cent of emissions from the existing works - approximately 800,000 tonnes a year - and will produce evoZero cement in the UK.

The survey, conducted by Yonder Consulting with 2,043 British adults in July 2025, found Labour voters were especially concerned about overconsumption and waste. Support for circular economy measures cut across regions and socioeconomic groups. More than 50 business and industry figures have separately called for the strategy’s release, and Green Alliance says the plan is ready to go.

Labour’s 2024 manifesto committed to a circular economy, and a taskforce of industry and academic experts was convened later that year. A strategy was due in October 2025 but was delayed and still unreleased when Keir Starmer resigned in June 2026.

Confirmed Year 2 fees and Notices of Liability will be published later this year based on data received by the deadline. PackUK published illustrative Year 2 fees in December 2025 but does not intend to issue further illustrative figures. As in Year 1, producers will have 50 calendar days to pay, with the option to pay in instalments.

Producers reporting through compliance schemes are advised to contact them to confirm what they need to provide ahead of the cut-off. PackUK says the change is part of efforts to improve data stability and reduce in-year fee variability, and may bring the resubmission deadline further forward in future years.