Research conducted by the Waste and Resources Management Partnership between the London boroughs and the Mayor of London found that if metropolitan businesses, residents, and politicians collaborate to develop the city's circular economy, more than 250,000 new employment places may be created in London. The ReLondon group study asserted that the growth of London's circular economy could considerably increase jobs and other beneficial economic impacts. The study claims earlier simulations in this field had not considered all possible job types. The group calculates that 284,000 additional "circular jobs" might be generated if the mayor's environmental goals are met by 2030, which includes a target to boost municipal recycling rates to 65 percent. There are approximately 231,000 people working in the circular economy in the city, which would nearly double under such a scenario.
The report contends that earlier predictions of job growth in the circular economy were underestimated because they focused solely on the trash industry. It describes "core circular work" as any activity carried out in a corporation that "ensures that material cycles are closed and that materials go on cycle for as long as feasible at the highest cost". Such activities include businesses that participate in reuse and repair, product rental and leasing, and resource and material recycling.
In the 2018 publication of the Environment Strategy for public comment, the Mayor of London released his proposed London Environment Strategy. The plan lays the groundwork for zero waste, zero carbon, and zero emission buildings as well as transportation systems to make London a zero carbon metropolis by 2050. The report was unveiled during Circular Economy Week, a week of activities highlighting companies, local governments, community organizations, and other groups transforming London and other cities around the world into more circular cities.
According to Wayne Hubbard, CEO of ReLondon, the circular economy spans a vast network of goods, resources, and services. He stated, "It's not simply a reuse and recycling sector, but a system that influences practically every part of our lives and involves a number of significant activities and occupations that underpin them. For London's low-carbon goods and services economy, that's why it's so crucial". According to ReLondon's analysis, attaining the mayor's environmental targets by 2030 may result in the creation of more than a quarter of a million "main round employment", 94,000 new indirect jobs, and 36,000 "permitting" positions in closed-loop economies.
ReLondon urges everyone working to address the climate emergency to acknowledge the need to spend money on education, training, and credentials to help firms move to circular business models. ReLondon is a collaboration between the Mayor of London and the London Boroughs to enhance waste and resource management and convert the city into a circular economy with a low carbon footprint. According to ReLondon, its staff offers personalized support to the government, industry, and populace.
The shift to a more circular economy has the potential to make a real contribution to mainstream employment in the capital. The report by Employment and the Circular Economy was a "wake-up call to define a course to a smarter future" for London, which could be a "global leader in the technologies and systems required to be at the forefront of this change" says Lord Barker, chair of London Sustainable Development Commission (LSDC).
London's young working-age population, which the pandemic has particularly severely hit, confronts more unemployment than their counterparts in other regions of the UK. They will have significant employment prospects due to the circular shift. Although action at all societal levels, from the national government to consumers, businesses, and the education sector, will be necessary to transition to a low-carbon circular economy, the creation of jobs made possible by the change to circular models cannot be ignored. It could boost the city significantly, aiding in our recovery from the pandemic, overcoming the current difficulty in the cost of living, and saving jobs and neighborhoods.