The “take–make–dispose” model is dying… fast!  The circular economy has evolved from buzzword to business mandate, with the global market growing by over 11% to an estimated £380 billion in 2025 and projected to reach almost £600 billion by 2030. Designing waste out of the system is now both a sustainability imperative and a strategic advantage. Companies that innovate circularly are gaining resilience, cutting costs and appealing to eco-conscious consumers and investors.

As 2025–2030 marks a decisive shift, driven by new EU rules on product passports and repairability, this article spotlights five groundbreaking approaches to rethinking entire lifecycles. Each section reveals how these innovations aren’t just green gestures, they’re building the foundation for the next era of profitable and planetary-aligned commerce.

The End of the Bin

The cradle-to-cradle principle is rapidly moving from theory to mainstream practice. Innovative companies are designing products not merely to be used, but to be lived with, repaired and reborn. Fairphone, for instance, champions a modular smartphone design. Battery, display and camera can be replaced at home with a simple screwdriver—with full parts support until 2027 and third-party audit of its electronic waste‑neutral claim. This ensures longer device lifespans and reduced resource extraction.

In the beauty sector, Lush Cosmetics is pioneering a packaging-free future. Nearly half its products are sold “naked”, and customers in the UK and Ireland can return containers for reuse under the Bring It Back scheme, saving millions of plastic bottles each year.

Meanwhile PANGAIA is pushing material innovation with bio-based fabrics and fully traceable supply chains, replacing petroleum-derived textiles and ensuring every fibre is counted.

These circular-design approaches are increasingly woven into ESG commitments, with investors now scrutinising repairability scores, material transparency and product‑lifecycle metrics. In today’s capital markets, cradle‑to‑cradle isn’t just environmentally sound, it’s financially smart.

From Rubbish to Revenue

Contrary to the lingering myth that sustainability is a cost centre, circular innovation is proving to be a powerful driver of commercial value. Forward-thinking businesses are discovering that designing waste out of their systems not only reduces environmental impact but unlocks fresh revenue streams and deepens customer loyalty.

Take Patagonia’s Worn Wear initiative, which invites customers to trade in used gear for resale, extending product life and reinforcing brand values. Similarly, IKEA’s Buy-Back & Resell programme allows customers to return unwanted furniture, which is then resold at discounted prices. This not only reduces landfill waste but keeps consumers within the IKEA ecosystem for longer.

Meanwhile, TerraCycle’s Loop platform has revolutionised fast-moving consumer goods by offering reusable, premium packaging for everyday products, redefining convenience and quality in sustainable terms.

These models illustrate how circularity can enhance customer lifetime value while aligning with shifting consumer expectations around transparency and environmental responsibility. According to Deloitte, nearly one in three UK consumers stopped purchasing certain brands over ethical or sustainability concerns. Circular design isn’t just a moral imperative, it’s a business opportunity. Brands that embrace it are turning yesterday’s waste into tomorrow’s profits.

Designing for Disassembly

At the heart of circular innovation lies a quietly radical idea: products should be easy to take apart. This isn’t just good for the planet, it’s smart engineering. Designing for disassembly means fewer materials, easily separable components, reversible joins, and clear labelling for repair or recycling. In essence, it’s about making complexity work backwards.

Tech company Framework is leading the way with its modular laptops, which users can upgrade, repair or customise with nothing more than a screwdriver—challenging the disposable norm of consumer electronics. In fashion, brands like GANNI are rethinking their design process, piloting take-back schemes and experimenting with fabrics that are easier to reuse and recycle. Further, Adidas’s Made to Be Remade trainers are designed with a single material and no glue, so the entire shoe can be ground down and reborn as a new pair.

With new EU legislation, like the Right to Repair laws, pressuring manufacturers to make products more serviceable, designing for disassembly is shifting from niche idealism to mainstream practice. In the future, things that come apart easily will likely last much longer.

Waste is a Design Flaw

In a truly circular economy, waste isn’t just managed, it’s designed out entirely. This shift demands more than eco-friendly products; it requires a systems-level rethink of how businesses operate. Circularity must start at the drawing board, guided by principles like those outlined by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, which emphasise designing for durability, reuse and regeneration.

Pioneering companies are already reimagining their entire models. Philips, for example, transformed from selling lightbulbs to offering lighting-as-a-service, notably installing and maintaining lighting at Schiphol Airport without transferring product ownership. Similarly, Swiss firm Climeworks offers carbon-capture-as-a-service, enabling businesses to actively remove CO₂ from the atmosphere as part of their sustainability commitments.

This model rethink now ripples across supply chains, demanding new procurement strategies, closer partnerships, and materials that can loop back into production. Startups are proving nimble here, driving innovation, while impact investors are funnelling capital into businesses that prioritise circularity over linear growth. As this mindset takes hold, the future of business won’t just minimise waste, it will be built to eliminate it entirely.

Circularity on the Shop Floor: How Manufacturers Are Closing the Loop

Across modern manufacturing, the mantra is shifting from “zero‑waste” lip‑service to fully scrapping the old linear model. Smart factories are harnessing digital twins and predictive maintenance to optimise every process. Sensors continuously monitor machinery, enabling maintenance before breakdowns, thus extending asset life and reducing downtime.

Take BMW’s iFACTORY initiative: it employs closed‑loop material flows, particularly in its battery supply chain. In China and Europe, spent EV batteries are being mechanically and chemically recycled, recovering nickel, lithium and cobalt. This is then fed straight back into production, cutting CO₂ by approximately 70 % compared to the use of virgin materials.

Unilever’s factories are also going digital. Its AI‑driven systems analyse live production data, especially in ice‑cream plants, adjusting processes in real time to reduce raw‑material waste by up to 10 %. Simultaneously, digital twins inform procurement and spoilage avoidance.

Then there’s Renault’s ReFactory in Flins, the first circular economy automotive plant in Europe. It refurbishes ageing vehicles, remanufactures parts at scale, recycles materials on site and even retrains staff in circular techniques. Here, industrial‑scale reintegration of scrap loops significantly cuts resource use and costs.

By combining digital intelligence with circular infrastructure, manufacturers are not merely reducing waste—they’re redesigning the site itself to close the loop.

Designing for Circular Advantage

Circularity has transcended its “green add‑on” label. It’s now a core strategy for business resilience, enabling companies to cut costs, weather supply chain volatility, and secure investor and customer trust. Firms that embed circular principles from the outset, through circular inputs, servitisation and product life extension, foster stronger brand loyalty while attracting sustainable investment. To build a future that lasts, we must design products and businesses that never reach the end of the line. Truly circular by design.

And what about you…?   

  • How does your organisation currently approach product or service design? Are circular principles considered from the outset, or added on later (if at all)?
  • In what ways could your company collaborate with suppliers, customers, or even competitors to create more circular and resilient ecosystems?