Up to £800,000 has been made available from Innovate UK for studies into the business case for the circular economy, focusing on new approaches to retaining the value of products through reuse, remanufacture or lease or maintenance, and building a relationship with the final customer to enable the return of products.

3 December 2014 – Funding of up to £800k is available for business to explore commercial models for a circular economy of goods in which resources are kept in productive use for longer.

We are looking for projects that involve a partnership of businesses looking into the feasibility of new ways of working that retain value in durable goods through reuse, remanufacture or lease/maintenance

The circular economy represents a substantial opportunity for business. Researchers McKinsey estimate that significant adoption of circular business models worldwide could save as much as $520-630billion a year.

Successful projects will include a business with a relationship with the final customer that can enable return of products.

Consortia will be asked to devise a pilot project to test the proposed new ways of working. We expect to support a small number of these pilot projects in a follow-up funding programme.

This competition opens for applicants on 2 March 2015. The deadline for registration is at noon on 8 April 2015.

For further information, please visit www.gov.uk/government/organisations/innovate-uk or find out more about the funding.