United Circles and Circular South East

Circular South East, the South East England Hub for Circularity, is part of United Circles, a flagship EU Horizon programme bringing together 44 partners across 16 countries and one UN body to accelerate circularity, resource efficiency and decarbonisation.

TTB Circular Solutions co-leads the Circular South East work for Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex and Greater Brighton, developing new models for circular infrastructure and industrial–urban symbiosis in partnership with Kent County Council and Claire Potter Design.

Overview

United Circles is establishing three Demonstrator Hubs4Circularity across Europe:

1. Salamanca (urban wastewater)

2. Ankara (construction & demolition waste)

3. Veneto (urban food waste / used cooking oil).

Each hub will:

• Build industrial and urban networks

• Develop governance frameworks

• Test financial viability

• Deploy digital tools

• Advance social and environmental innovation

• Create a materials and products observatory

What United Circles is creating

Digital tools

Six advanced digital tools will support mapping, monitoring and circular infrastructure planning:

• Regenerate Explorer (RECY)

• IUS Flow Catalogue

• AI Recommender

• IUS Designer

• GRETA LCSA platform

• TRACID Digital Product Passport

Stakeholder Engagement

Two major stakeholder events have already taken place in 2025, bringing together over 60 organisations to explore governance, material flows and collaboration opportunities.

Circular South East: The South East England Hub for Circularity

Circular South East focuses on regional priority materials and opportunities for industrial–urban symbiosis, in order to to:

• Map stranded and underused material flows

• Engage local authorities and major stakeholders

• Build business cases for physical reuse hubs

• Develop tools and platforms to enable material exchange

• Adapt learning from the Italian Demonstrator Hub (UCO / bio-refining