A practical guide to the circular economy

Sustainability · 2026-06-11 · 8 min read

By Ravi Patel, Sustainability & agriculture

Recycling is the last resort, not the goal. The value sits in keeping products whole, repaired and in use.

The hierarchy is usually taught backwards. Reducing material, extending life and repairing all retain far more value than recycling, which breaks a manufactured product back down into a low-grade input.

That means design is the decisive step. Whether a product can be opened, whether the battery is replaceable, whether parts are joined with screws or adhesive, and whether components are labelled all get fixed years before anyone tries to recover them.

Reverse logistics is the part that defeats most programmes. Getting a used product back, sorting it, assessing it and refurbishing it costs real money, and it only works at meaningful volume with a route that customers find easier than the bin.

Repair economics have shifted, helped by legislation on spare parts and manuals. Where parts are available at sane prices, a repair market appears quickly; where they are not, no amount of consumer intent creates one.

Start narrow. One product line, one recovery route, measured honestly on units returned and resold rather than on tonnes diverted. Broad circularity commitments without those numbers are a communications exercise.

Tags: sustainability, economy, business

Ravi Patel — Ravi reports on agriculture, food systems and sustainability for ESPYCRUX, with a habit of following the money before the technology. He grew up around a family farm and it shows in the questions he asks.