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London Reporting Academy ESRS E5 · Resource Use and Circular Economy · Disclosure Requirement E5-1

Applicable from FY2027

This revised ESRS edition applies from reporting year 2027. For reporting years 2024–2026, use the ESRS 2023 edition.

Policies related to resource use and circular economy

E5-1 · mandatory · coverage + narrative

E5-1 reports policies adopted to manage material resource-use and circular-economy impacts, risks or opportunities under GDR-P.

Disclosure focus

The disclosure describes actual policy scope and exclusions. A policy may address only selected aspects of a topic; this is reported accurately rather than judged against an invented whole-business coverage requirement.

Relevant policy content may address product and material design, circular business models, resource inflows, product or service outflows and waste, including circular-economy services where material.

This LRA educational guidance supports disclosure preparation. For the exact requirements, always refer to the official European Commission source.

Prepare

What to collect before drafting

Tick each field as the evidence lands. Owners are the teams that usually hold the source files.

  • Material impacts, risks and opportunities

    Sustainability reporting

    Identify the material impacts, risks or opportunities that each policy addresses.

    Evidence Dated source records, governance papers and approval evidence supporting material impacts, risks and opportunities.

    Watch for The published response for material impacts, risks and opportunities is incomplete or does not match the supporting records.

  • Policy contents and objectives

    Sustainability reporting

    Describe the policy's key contents and general objectives.

    Evidence Dated source records, governance papers and approval evidence supporting policy contents and objectives.

    Watch for The published response for policy contents and objectives is incomplete or does not match the supporting records.

  • Policy scope and exclusions

    Sustainability reporting

    Describe scope or exclusions across own operations, upstream and downstream value chain, geographies and affected stakeholder groups where defined.

    Evidence Dated source records, governance papers and approval evidence supporting policy scope and exclusions.

    Watch for The published response for policy scope and exclusions is incomplete or does not match the supporting records.

  • Accountability

    Sustainability reporting

    Identify the most senior level in the undertaking accountable for implementation.

    Evidence Dated source records, governance papers and approval evidence supporting accountability.

    Watch for The published response for accountability is incomplete or does not match the supporting records.

  • Third-party commitments

    Sustainability reporting

    Identify third-party standards or initiatives only where the policy commits the undertaking to respect them through implementation.

    Evidence Dated source records, governance papers and approval evidence supporting third-party commitments.

    Watch for The published response for third-party commitments is incomplete or does not match the supporting records.

  • Stakeholder interests and availability

    Sustainability reporting

    Explain how key stakeholder interests were considered and how the policy is made available to affected stakeholders where relevant.

    Evidence Dated source records, governance papers and approval evidence supporting stakeholder interests and availability.

    Watch for The published response for stakeholder interests and availability is incomplete or does not match the supporting records.

  • Policy changes

    Sustainability reporting

    Describe material policy changes during the reporting period, where applicable.

    Evidence Dated source records, governance papers and approval evidence supporting policy changes.

    Watch for The published response for policy changes is incomplete or does not match the supporting records.

  • Resource-use and circular-economy content

    Sustainability reporting

    Describe the policy content that addresses material resource inflows, circular design, products or services, outflows and waste where relevant.

    Evidence Dated source records, governance papers and approval evidence supporting resource-use and circular-economy content.

    Watch for The published response for resource-use and circular-economy content is incomplete or does not match the supporting records.

Before you start

  • Use the complete GDR-P scope and the actual aspects covered by each policy.
  • Record the absence of policies for material matters through the applicable ESRS 2 route.
  • Have the supporting records and the final response been reconciled?
+ Show E5-1 sub-elements (LRA working checklist)

How to prepare it

Use the complete GDR-P scope and the actual aspects covered by each policy.
Collect and reconcile the records for: Material impacts, risks and opportunities; Policy contents and objectives; Policy scope and exclusions; Accountability; Third-party commitments; Stakeholder interests and availability; Policy changes; Resource-use and circular-economy content.
Record the absence of policies for material matters through the applicable ESRS 2 route.
Draft the response using the defined terms shown in the disclosure focus; do not substitute broader internal labels.
Review the final wording against every requirement and the supporting governance or data records before sign-off.

Request the data

Request the disclosure evidence

Translate the disclosure into an internal business question — then adapt it to your organisation's own language.

Provide the policy inventory, material-IRO mapping, key contents and objectives, scope and exclusions, accountability, commitments, stakeholder considerations, changes and circular-economy topic mapping.

Use the organisation's own role and document names, but preserve the defined ESRS terms and the scope described above.

Better request

Provide the policy inventory, material-IRO mapping, key contents and objectives, scope and exclusions, accountability, commitments, stakeholder considerations, changes and circular-economy topic mapping.

Draft your disclosure

Notes that turn data into a disclosure

LRA training templates — adapt them to your organisation, and check the official source before sign-off.

Method note

Distinguish policy content required by GDR-P from optional internal coverage figures and design-feature controls.

Context note

Do not require a percentage coverage figure; report the actual policy scope and exclusions.

Download Centre

Preparation tools & forms

Download preparation tools for E5-1 with free verified email access for 24 hours. Source-report links remain public.

Free · Email access

Check

For each claim, check the evidence

  • Material impacts, risks and opportunities is reported accurately and completely.

    Risk The response omits, misclassifies or overstates material impacts, risks and opportunities.

    Evidence to check Dated source records, governance papers and approval evidence supporting material impacts, risks and opportunities.

  • Policy contents and objectives is reported accurately and completely.

    Risk The response omits, misclassifies or overstates policy contents and objectives.

    Evidence to check Dated source records, governance papers and approval evidence supporting policy contents and objectives.

  • Policy scope and exclusions is reported accurately and completely.

    Risk The response omits, misclassifies or overstates policy scope and exclusions.

    Evidence to check Dated source records, governance papers and approval evidence supporting policy scope and exclusions.

  • Accountability is reported accurately and completely.

    Risk The response omits, misclassifies or overstates accountability.

    Evidence to check Dated source records, governance papers and approval evidence supporting accountability.

  • Third-party commitments is reported accurately and completely.

    Risk The response omits, misclassifies or overstates third-party commitments.

    Evidence to check Dated source records, governance papers and approval evidence supporting third-party commitments.

  • Stakeholder interests and availability is reported accurately and completely.

    Risk The response omits, misclassifies or overstates stakeholder interests and availability.

    Evidence to check Dated source records, governance papers and approval evidence supporting stakeholder interests and availability.

  • Policy changes is reported accurately and completely.

    Risk The response omits, misclassifies or overstates policy changes.

    Evidence to check Dated source records, governance papers and approval evidence supporting policy changes.

  • Resource-use and circular-economy content is reported accurately and completely.

    Risk The response omits, misclassifies or overstates resource-use and circular-economy content.

    Evidence to check Dated source records, governance papers and approval evidence supporting resource-use and circular-economy content.

Evidence pack to prepare

Common reporting gaps

  • Using only Policies as the title.
  • Omitting GDR-P elements.
  • Requiring whole-business policy coverage.
  • Treating a coverage percentage as required.
  • Omitting circular-economy services where material.
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Framework references

Relevant ESRS requirements and related disclosures

ESRS

E5-1

within ESRS E5: Resource Use and Circular Economy

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Guides that settle this question

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