Extract, produce, and dispose. This is the principle of our economic system—a fundamentally linear system where, as the economy grows, consumption increases and more waste accumulates. Currently, only 6.9% of the materials we use worldwide come from recycled sources, while the rate of extraction and consumption remains far above recycling capacity, as warned by the Circularity Gap Report 2025. The same report points out that increasing recycling will not be enough: the system needs to be rethought from the beginning, applying circular design principles to products. This means “designing them to last longer, be easily repairable, reusable, and remanufacturable,” says Jordi Oliver, CEO of inèdit.

To ensure a viable future, we must transition from a linear economic model to a circular one, which will entail changes throughout the entire production process: design, logistics, product lifespan, consumer behaviour, regulations, education, and the need for innovation. The key to achieving this is by implementing and scaling circular business models.

Doing so can bring major benefits. In the fashion sector, for example, implementing models such as rental, resale, repair, or remanufacturing could represent a potential market of $73 billion by 2030—23% of the global fashion market—according to the report Circular Business Models: Redefining Growth for a Thriving Fashion Industry (Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2021).

However, as Jordi Oliver, CEO of inèdit, points out, “the great challenge will be moving from a starting point made up of a constellation of disconnected success stories to embracing the idea of a business ecosystem in which the entire value chain works towards common goals, with cooperation as an essential path forward.”

What are circular business models?

Circular business models based on servitisation, also known as the performance economy, involve offering the use or functionality of a product as a service rather than selling it as a physical good. In this model, the manufacturer or provider retains ownership of the product and manages its entire lifecycle, taking responsibility for its performance, maintenance, and end-of-life.

This economic structure creates clear incentives to design more durable, repairable, and reusable products, because the longer they stay in service generating income, the greater the economic and environmental benefits. Innovation is thus directed toward smart solutions that maximise usage value over time, through activities such as predictive maintenance, remanufacturing, and rental.

This approach enables the dematerialisation of the economy by decoupling wealth creation from resource consumption and promoting intensive use of knowledge and local labour over material resources. As a result, it generates employment and reduces environmental impacts. Furthermore, it encourages a cultural shift towards taking care of products, where time becomes a key factor in the economic and ecological sustainability of the system.

In the circular economy, value creation is based on keeping products and materials in use for as long as possible through reuse, repair, remanufacturing, and recycling.

There are five circular business strategies. In a circular business model, companies may adopt just one, but combining two or more has much greater potential to generate value:

1. Circular inputs
Conventional materials are replaced with renewable or recycled resources, reducing reliance on virgin raw materials and preventing waste generation.

2. Sharing platforms
These promote the collaborative use of assets among multiple users to avoid underutilisation. Examples include car-sharing platforms or tool-lending schemes.

3. Product-as-a-service
Customers do not purchase the product but use it temporarily through a rental or subscription service. The company retains ownership of the product and optimises its use and maintenance.

4. Product life extension
With proper design, products can be repaired, upgraded, reused, remanufactured, or resold to extend their life cycle.

5. Resource recovery
Consisteix a recuperar materials valuosos de productes al final de la seva vida útil. Inclou el reciclatge o la venda de subproductes a altres empreses que els poden reutilitzar.

Challenges in implementing circular business models

This strategy involves recovering valuable materials from products at the end of their life. It includes recycling or selling by-products to other companies that can reuse them.

Despite the environmental, economic, and social benefits that circular business models can offer, scaling them up still faces significant challenges.
Many companies operate within regulatory, financial, and cultural frameworks designed for a linear system, which often penalises circular alternatives. Current incentives reward the production and consumption of new products over maintenance, reuse, or repair.

Moreover, supply chains are optimised for volume and speed, not for traceability and value recovery. Cultural and organisational barriers must also be overcome: circularity requires a new way of thinking and operating—one that prioritises collaboration over competition and shared value flows over immediate profit.

According to Jordi Oliver, “for these models to thrive, a systemic transformation is needed—one that involves everything from design and public policy to finance, taxation, and education.”

Some success stories

Several companies have embraced circular business models. Canon, for instance, manufactures remanufactured multifunction copiers from used machines. Since 1992, it has received equipment at its remanufacturing centre in Giessen, Germany, where the devices are assessed and disassembled. Reusable parts are cleaned, tested, and used to build new machines that meet the same quality and performance standards as 100% new ones.

In Mondragón, in the Basque Country, there’s COPRECI, a supplier of components and solutions for the home appliance industry. As part of the LIFE WEEELOOP project, the company has implemented a circular economy-based system for managing waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). Their goal is to recover 90% of materials and components from cooktops and reuse them in other appliances. This has been made possible through the implementation of advanced technologies for extraction, ecodesign, and traceability, as well as the development of the first Digital Passport for recovered components.

inèdit has supported several companies in designing new business models. One such case is Iberital, a company that designs, manufactures, and sells espresso machines, grinders, and spare parts for the hospitality and catering industry. Thanks to a project with inèdit, they created a circular coffee machine—Iberital Anew—which is repairable, made of durable, high-quality materials, and designed in a modular way to facilitate remanufacturing.

Within the “Back to Rug” project, inèdit designed a system to recover carpets from ROLS hotels at the end of their life cycle. Once recovered, the carpets are sanitised and/or refurbished—sometimes given artistic value, making them unique and distinctive. This reduces carpet-related waste, extends product life, and enables material recovery.

For Absotec, a company that designs and manufactures acoustic conditioning solutions, inèdit guided and supported the team in conceiving, defining, and validating a new business line—from technical, economic, and environmental perspectives. This involved a servitisation strategy through short-term rental (pay-per-use) and long-term rental (subscription-based) models.

In addition to these projects, inèdit is currently working on the development of modular furniture in collaboration with Kave Home, and is a partner in a project led by the Catalan Waste Cluster (CREC) that is exploring new circular business models around construction and demolition waste (CDW).

Towards a new business culture

Circular technologies and innovative business models are essential to enable a circular economy—but they are not enough on their own. A new culture of consumption is also needed, where companies, governments, and individuals play an active role in making this transformation a reality. This includes consuming fewer resources while creating equal or greater value, curbing overconsumption, and regulating markets so that product prices reflect their environmental externalities.