Circular business models for increasing product usage

Abstract

Economic development and globalization have brought our planet into a dramatic situation both from the perspective of the impact on the environment and from the perspective of the rapid depletion of limited natural resources. The excessive private consumption of the population of most countries in the world, who live in an abundance of material things, is far from sustainable and calls into question the existence of future generations. Population behavior and consumption and production choices have a negative impact on the environment and other people, for this reason the global challenges we face require the development of new lifestyles and business models that would be more sustainable and responsible towards the environment. The need to move in a prompt manner from a linear economy to circular economy practices is rapidly intensifying every year, and this is currently seen as the only solution to slow down the negative developments. The circular economy means extracting value throughout the product life cycle by repairing, reusing, upgrading and recycling products in a profitable and sustainable way, with the aim of reducing the amount of exhaustible resources consumed, the volume of waste generated and the harmful impact on climate. The transition to a circular economy requires a fundamental change in the way we think and use goods. A real change refers to the adoption of business models and behaviors that would also aim to optimize and increase the rate of use of products. In this work, we aimed to describe the main circular business models that can be implemented, highlighting among them those that directly aim to increase the rate of use of products, this being one of the essential ways of transitioning to a circular economy. This paper is written within the state project 20.80009.0807.22. Developing the mechanism for the circular economy creation in the RM. CZU: 339.138:504(478); JEL: Q01, Q32, Q57; DOI: https://doi.org/10.53486/cike2022.08