What if you no longer own things, but pay for their use? That’s the essence of the shift from ownership to usage. As a consumer or business, you no longer own a product; instead, you pay for its functionality.
You’re seeing this shift more and more often. Just look at shared mobility in major cities, where shared bikes and cars are widely available. Or at the hardware store, where you can rent a saw or a ladder for that one job. This is a valuable step toward a circular economy. You can see this clearly in the following examples.
Why a shared car is more circular than a privately owned car
With a shared car, the focus shifts entirely from ownership to functionality. The average private car sits idle about 95% of the time. From a circular perspective, that’s a waste of all the raw materials it contains, such as steel, plastics, and lithium. A shared car is used by multiple people in succession and spends much less time idle. As a result, fewer cars are needed to transport the same number of people.
Since the car-sharing company remains the owner, it is also responsible for maintenance, insurance, and repairs. The company therefore has every interest in ensuring the cars last as long as possible. At the end of their useful life, the company can also resell the cars or have them recycled into high-quality materials.
Leasing office furniture: furniture that stays in circulation
Another strong example from the business world is leasing a complete office setup: chairs, desks, and cabinets. If a company downsizes or relocates, the manufacturer takes the furniture back. The components—such as a chair’s base or a wooden desk top—are inspected, reupholstered, or updated to reflect new trends. They are then sent to another customer. This way, the furniture doesn’t end up in a dusty warehouse or in the trash, but remains in continuous circulation.
It doesn’t work without circular design—and vice versa
Circular design is what truly makes this model possible. Suppose an office chair is designed in such a way that you can’t take it apart. Then repairing it is impossible, and the chair still ends up as waste—perhaps because just one small part is broken. Renting it out then becomes unaffordable for the manufacturer, because they constantly have to purchase new products.
The reverse is also true: the shift from ownership to usage ensures that circular design actually has an impact. Suppose a manufacturer designs a laptop that’s easy to repair. If they sell it to a consumer, they lose control. After five years, the consumer might stash the laptop in a drawer or toss it in the trash. If the manufacturer had retained ownership, they could have reused the materials.
In short: circular design ensures that a product can be technically disassembled. The shift from ownership to usage ensures that the product is actually returned, both logistically and economically.
Does that mean you shouldn’t own anything anymore?
Does this mean that circular design only works if we stop owning anything? No. Take a pair of jeans, for example. You usually just buy those yourself. Still, a pair of jeans can be designed with circularity in mind—for example, made from 100% cotton—so they’re easier to recycle. To encourage people to turn in their old jeans, you can offer discounts. After they’re returned to the store, the jeans can be processed into fibers for new clothing.
So circular design works for ownership, too. But with a usage model, the manufacturer can be certain that the materials will actually be returned. Think of it as an extra incentive.
Manufacturers are taking on more and more responsibility
It’s been clear for some time now that manufacturers are taking on more and more responsibility. Consider the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) program for items such as packaging, electronics, and textiles. Manufacturers are legally required to contribute to the cost of collecting and processing their products once they become waste. So their responsibility no longer ends at the point of sale.
And that’s where circular design comes into play again. Because how can a company prevent that waste phase from becoming unaffordable? By designing products to last a long time, be easy to repair, and, at the end of their life, be easily separated and recycled.
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