Role of Recycling Towards a Sustainable Business Model: A Perspective on Industrial Assets

Abstract

Equipment manufacturers (EMs) exhibit unsustainable operating patterns in linear production models by depleting finite materials. In this context, future business environments in industrial markets shift fundamentally and form a new sustainability paradigm stimulated by key drivers, e.g., end customer behavior. Considering the market shift, this research explores an overview of prerequisites in the transition toward a sustainable business model in industrial markets. Prior research exhibited product life cycle extensions for industrial assets facilitated by the most common R-principles “reuse”, “remanufacture”, and “recycle”. Leaning on previous research, recycling is instrumentalized for some materials, e.g., polyethylene terephthalate (PET). For industrial assets, manufactured products, such implementation efforts for EMs fall short. Investigating the shortage, this study (1) scrutinizes the role of recycling in the transition towards a sustainable business model, (2) identifies appropriate characteristics of industrial assets facilitating recycling, and (3) evaluates parameters to operationalize a recycling value chain (RVC). In a practice-based project, involving a Swiss-based equipment manufacturing company, mixed methods are applied. The results propose key drivers and characteristics facilitating recycling efforts of industrial assets and parameters fostering an RVC. Future research should increase the number of sample EMs and scrutinize the role of various RVC actors to exceed present limitations.