Experience tells us that circular economy systems do not form themselves, judging from historic linear approaches that explore for, exploit, process and use metals only to discard them at the end of their lives. Even when metals are recycled, these efforts are limited in ambition and undiscerning in terms of the materials recovered. It follows that regulation may be important in correcting this market failure by employing a mixture of 'carrots and sticks' to incentivise circular approaches.

Note that, when we talk about law, we include here not only 'hard' laws (statutory provisions) but also 'soft' law instruments such as codes of practice or product standards. Similarly, when discussing regulations, included here are governance mechanisms that often bridge the public and private sectors so that, for example, contracts for materials may help police the environmental, social and governance performance of supply-chain actors. This section is also concerned with ethical dimensions of the circulation of technology metals.

• Recycling targets need to be more ambitious and robust to build an effective circular economy: they do not currently go far enough for most categories of products containing critical minerals, for example electric vehicles or waste electric and electronic equipment
• Recycling targets should be more specific and focused on those components that face the greatest supply threats: existing recycling targets are often broad and based on overall weight of product, which does not facilitate recovery of the most critical metals and minerals
• Introducing regulations to mandate eco-design of products could significantly help to improve recycling efficiency: most end-of-life regulations do not focus eco-design, being largely focused on managing waste streams. However, in a truly efficient circular economy, end-of-life management should begin at the start of product design and manufacture, so that products are easy to remove, disassemble and recycle
• Regulations to increase product longevity, replaceability of components as well as to make products easier to repair are imperative for achieving circular economy goals and maximising value
• Measures to incentivise eco-labelling should be introduced
• Levels of compliance should be improved, alongside better enforcement