Measuring the Transition to a Circular Water Economy

Jacobs, in collaboration with Imperial College London, worked with U.K. Water Industry Research (UKWIR) and its project steering group to develop the first industry-wide Circular Economy Accounting Tool (CEAT) for the U.K. and Irish water sector. The tool provides the first sector-wide framework for measuring circularity in water utility operations.

The need to shift from a linear to a circular economy — where resources are used more efficiently, waste is minimized and environmental value is restored — has gained global recognition. Yet many sectors, including water, have lacked the metrics and frameworks needed to track progress.

The CEAT fills this gap by offering a structured approach for utilities to assess how circular their operations are and where improvements can be made. Built on internationally recognized circular economy standards, the tool includes a set of indicators and metrics tailored to the water sector’s specific processes and challenges. It enables companies to benchmark their performance and plan targeted actions that align with environmental, economic and social priorities.

The tool also supports alignment with broader sustainability frameworks, such as natural capital, social value and whole-systems thinking — helping utilities advance their circular economy goals in a measurable, meaningful way.

This project builds on a series of UKWIR initiatives over the past five years aimed at embedding circular economy principles across the sector. The CEAT now provides the practical foundation to move from ambition to accountability, enabling water companies to track and accelerate their progress in becoming more regenerative and resilient.

“As we find ourselves breaching six of the nine planetary boundaries, the time to start our journey in measuring circular economy action is now, “says UKWIR former Co-Programme Lead Rob Naylor. “The Circular Economy Accounting Tool provides the U.K. and Irish water sector with a great start and should push us to consider circular economy across all we do as stewards of the water cycle and all that runs through it.” 

“A transition to circular economy is perhaps the ultimate challenge our society faces. In water, this requires multidisciplinary skillsets and systems thinking approaches which must start upstream in our catchments and must involve true collaboration with all stakeholders in the water cycle”, says Jacobs Project Technical Lead Amanda Lake. “This is a real challenge, and the accounting tool this project has developed is intentionally ambitious — but allows all water companies, no matter their starting point, to begin the process of internally quantifying their own circular economy transition activities today.”