FROM THE INDUSTRY
Why Vendors Must Lead the Circular Revolution By Victoria D’Arcy
Circularity isn’t only good for the planet; it’s good for profit. Around 75% of a product’s emissions occur during creation. Once it’s sold, most vendors step back, and with that, they surrender the asset’s future value. The owner either sells it directly on the secondary market or through a disposition company that decides its fate. If it’s recycled, that’s the end of the line for value. “Now imagine if the OEM stayed in control. By delivering fair residual value to the owner, they’d retain loyalty and credibility.” The product could flow back into their ecosystem - authenticated, certified, and trusted. The second lifecycle carries remarkable margin potential: licensing is pure profit and remanufacture at scale is economically sound. Yet too few vendors seize it. To really make this work, partners must share in the reward. Remanufactured products should be priced for resale, supported like-new and sold through incentivised channels. Sellers will sell what makes them money - so pay on margin, not token incentives and watch what was once “unsellable” start to move. We should be measuring vendors not just on how much they sell, but how long their products live. And when recovery truly isn’t viable, that’s when the value train moves to its next stop. Liquidation isn’t failure - it’s the final expression of circular value, ensuring that nothing is wasted.
Having been in tech for many years, I’ve seen every version of the sales cycle - from heavy- handed discounting to early take- back programmes that promised change, then quietly vanished as
budgets, then interest moved on. But this time feels different. The shift isn’t coming from corporate headquarters; it’s coming from customers. Leasing has always built circularity in. When a product must hold its value to be returned, the behaviour changes. What began as a financial mechanism has become a behavioural one. Customers are managing lifecycles, not just assets - and that subtle shift in language signals something profound. We’ve seen this in the consumer world for years. We don’t demolish a house when we move; we restore and resell it. Cars, homes and mobile phones all follow circular models. Now enterprise is catching up, driven by carbon targets, ESG reporting and perhaps most powerfully, reputation. Doing the right thing looks good - but it also is good. It builds credibility for the organisation, for the people who lead it and the people who buy from it. Few understand what lies inside electronics, or how we source those materials. Metals like cobalt and rare earths are becoming weaponised through restricted supply. Scarcity means risk - to our economy, our datacentres and our access to technology. Reuse isn’t just ethical; it’s strategic.
Liquidation: The Forgotten Hero of the Circular Economy By Damian Polak
retailers or export to secondary markets. Instead of being destroyed, which is a cost on its own, these products stay in circulation longer, generating economic value rather than loss. Sustainable liquidation practices show stakeholders that a company is committed to responsibility, not just profitability. And on the other hand, consumers are becoming more aware of their environmental and ethical footprint behind every purchase and brands that demonstrate social responsibility gain a clear competitive edge. Technology has blown the doors wide open for the secondary and liquidation markets around the world. Transactions are now more collaborative and transparent than ever before. Companies have more opportunities than at any point in history to do the right thing, to liquidate rather than destroy, without fear of brand cannibalisation or losing control.
The term “liquidation” often carries a negative connotation. Many immediately associate
it with bankruptcy or going out of business. But in reality, liquidation is simply the process of recovering value from unsold goods. When liquidation is done right, it’s a critical part of a company’s overall strategy. Every company that deals with physical products eventually ends up with inventory it can’t sell through regular channels. That’s just business. The question is: what happens next? A smart liquidation strategy creates efficiency and extends the lifecycle of products, turning potential waste into opportunity. Sustainability and liquidation actually go hand in hand. When executed properly, liquidation keeps products out of landfills and gives them a second life, often through resale to discount
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DECEMBER 2025 Volume 47 No.4
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