Global decarbonisation is falling behind. Carbon removals capacity sits below 1 gigaton CO₂ per year — a fraction of the 10 gigatons the IPCC says will be needed annually by 2050. Meanwhile, carbon offsets are losing credibility, with growing evidence that many credits fail to represent real emissions reductions. The voluntary carbon market, once forecast to scale 20x by 2030, is under pressure.
A critical solution has been hiding in plain sight: the circular economy.
Research by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation suggests that circular solutions could address up to 45% of global emissions linked to products and materials. By reducing waste, reusing resources, and improving transparency across value chains, circularity offers both immediate impact and long-term resilience — at a scale that carbon removals alone cannot deliver.
The opportunity is especially acute in materials recovery. As the global economy accelerates its low-carbon transition, demand for rare earth metals and critical minerals is surging. Yet global e-waste recycling rates hover around just 20% — leaving an enormous secondary supply of recoverable materials untapped.
The challenge has never been the opportunity. It has been the absence of market infrastructure to recognise, verify and reward circular activity.
That is what this white paper addresses.
Bloom’s September 2025 white paper explores how a new generation of environmental certificates — backed by independent verification and registry-grade infrastructure — can turn reuse and recycling into credible, market-ready climate assets for corporate value chain decarbonisation.