The Crown Estate has announced that they have become a member of the Circular Economy 100 (CE100) programme, led by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.

As the latest corporate member of CE100, The Crown Estate will embark on a three-year partnership to embed the principles of the circular economy across the business and its activities.

The Crown Estate actively manages a £12bn portfolio that has consistently outperformed the market for the last five years. This includes commercial property in central London; retail and leisure destinations across the UK; rural land; and offshore wind, in its capacity as manager of the UK seabed.

Participating in the CE100 programme will support The Crown Estate in sustaining long-term success by creating a resilient business of the future. It will significantly build upon the existing circular economy initiatives of The Crown Estate, which to date have seen 98% of waste diverted from landfill on its current developments and includes activities such as the waste consolidation programme across its central London portfolio. This aims to reduce waste from businesses in Regent Street and St James’s, consolidate collections into fewer journeys and increase the use of electronic vehicles. By embedding the principles of the circular economy in its operations, The Crown Estate will look to realise its ambitious targets for a carbon-free, waste-free business by 2030.

Claudine Blamey, Head of Sustainability, at The Crown Estate said: “We have ambitious targets for creating our resilient business of the future. We have set ourselves a goal of removing all carbon and waste from our business by 2030. To do this we are looking outside of our sector to innovate and access the knowledge of external experts. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation and the CE100 will play an important role in enhancing our knowledge and developing our plan for a sustainable future.”

Earlier this year, The Crown Estate published its second report into its ground-breaking approach, called 'Total Contribution', which aims to understand the impacts of its business beyond traditional financial indicators. 

This method measures the broader value the business creates through its activities, including those of its partners and customers, to understand impacts on business ‘capitals’. These are the factors drawn upon to deliver commercial performance and which are interrelated; for example, people, natural resources, know-how and networks.

The Crown Estate is now collaborating with A4S (Accounting for Sustainability) through its Chief Financial Officer network, to test the approach and develop robust, accepted metrics for measuring impact on these capitals through a wide range of industry engagement.

This article was originally posted on The Crown Estate's website here.