You might be designing a circularity strategy for a product your customers don’t want anymore.
Most companies working on product circularity start with technical and logistical questions. But before preparing a circularity pilot, shouldn’t we first ask a simpler one: why did the first owner get rid of it?
The question most circularity projects skip
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Worn out?
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Too difficult or expensive to repair?
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Missing functionality?
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Wanted a newer version?
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Something else?
Each answer points to a different problem — and not all of them are solved by a circular loop.
Without understanding the customer side of your product, you risk creating a circularity strategy before you’ve created a product worth making circular.
Quick wins only work on the right products
I often say that repair and refurbishment are two of the most obvious quick wins in circularity. But only if the product itself is worth making circular.
Otherwise the strategy may fail — while the real problem sits in the product design.
So how do we solve this?
Understand your customer. And work on the short and long term at the same time:
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Repair and refurbishment create immediate circularity — on the products already in the market.
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Design for circularity creates the products that make those loops worthwhile in the long run.
One keeps value in play today. The other makes sure there’s value worth keeping tomorrow.