Closing the Local Loop: How East London Can Lead the Circular Economy
Something’s happening in East London. You can feel it in the warehouses, the workshops, the way people talk about waste as if it’s raw material again.
Over the past few years, we’ve been proving what a local circular economy can look like. From The Loop in Hackney Wick to the Textile Reuse Hub in Fish Island. Both were built from almost nothing, powered by community grit and the belief that regeneration should mean something more than new glass and steel.
A New Kind of Partnership
None of this would exist without our partners at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park Innovation District (LLDC), who backed us through the Future Industries Demonstrator Programme (FID). They saw potential in something that didn’t fit the usual mould — flexible, community-led, slightly chaotic spaces where innovation and social purpose meet.
Thanks to that funding, we’ve been able to test and grow circular economy businesses that are rethinking waste and supply chains from the ground up. Flux Fermentation, Zhero, Are You Mad, and Yodomo are just a few of the members featured in our new guide Closing the Local Loop. Together, they’re proving what happens when you give people space to experiment, the outcomes are creative, low-carbon, and deeply human.
Space Matters
But here’s the reality: these kinds of spaces are popping up and vanishing just as quick. Why? East London is losing its industrial land fast. If circular hubs like The Loop are going to survive — and multiply — we need long-term, adaptive, affordable industrial space close to where people live.
Because behaviour change doesn’t happen in theory. It happens when the repair café is down the road, when your local delivery rider works for a zero-waste logistics company, when the materials from one workshop become the inputs for another.
From Beneficiaries to Owners
This is the future we’re pushing for — one where everyday people have both a moral and material say in how these hubs are designed, governed, and used. Ownership isn’t just about equity; it’s about agency. The circular economy won’t mean much if it’s owned by a handful of corporations instead of the communities it depends on.
Looking Ahead
The guide isn’t a report to shelve — it’s an open invitation. If you’re a developer, policymaker, funder, or citizen who believes cities can be built around reuse, collaboration, and shared value, we’re ready to work with you.
Thank you to HeyBigMan! for the design work & Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park Innovation District for funding the development of this guidebook. Our partners in delivery of The Loop are Arbeit, ReLondon, GLA. For Textile Reuse Hub we thank our partners Yodomo, Fibrelab, Segro, The Trampery.