Circular economy and sharing economy
The circular economy is changing our way of ownership. It’s a positive development for the environment, businesses, and individuals.
Equipment rental is a form of circular economy
The circular economy is changing our way of ownership, and it’s beneficial for the environment, businesses, and individuals. Renta is a more efficient owner of equipment than its user. Customers also benefit from the performance of Renta’s experts, platforms, and applications.
In the traditional, linear economic model, consumers and businesses acquire goods for ownership. In this model, a large number of goods are produced, the utilization of individual items is often low, and the active lifespan is short.
The linear model is often summarized in the phrase “take, make, waste.” Natural resources are taken, turned into marketable products, and eventually become waste, partly due to how products are designed and manufactured.
Consider a machine or tool purchased for a specific project, only to be stored until it might be needed again. Rarely used equipment doesn’t justify a significant investment, leading to compromises in quality and durability at the time of purchase. This compromise affects the development and manufacturing of machines.
In the circular economy, the goal is to reduce the consumption of natural resources and the generation of waste by ensuring that products, materials, equipment, and infrastructure remain in use for a longer time. This requires mechanisms that enable efficient recycling, including equipment sharing, renting, reuse, repair, upgrading, and material recycling.
Renta’s role in the circular economy is particularly related to the efficient distribution, use, and maintenance of machines and equipment.
Our operations also have an indirect but significant impact on primary production, design, manufacturing, as well as post-use collection, recycling, and residual waste.
Sharing economy is closely related to the circular economy
Sharing economy refers to a new economic mindset where the opportunity to use goods, services, and other commodities is more important than owning them. Various digital platforms and applications often enable the practical implementation of the sharing economy.
It has been said that the sharing economy provides one of the few pleasant responses to the conflict between a growth-based economic model and the environment. By efficiently utilizing underused assets, we can maintain our standard of living without compromising it, even as we need to curb environmentally unsustainable consumption and overproduction.
The sharing economy is closely related to the circular economy, but not all sharing economy practices fall under the circular economy. Sharing economy aligns with the circular economy when it promotes wiser resource use, increases the utilization rate of products, and reduces the need for virgin raw materials and new products.
Therefore, equipment rental represents both sharing economy and circular economy principles.
