Information as a Circular Resource: Facilitating Information Exchange to Extend Product-life

Purpose: This paper aims to study a circular economy business model that offers services with embedded information exchange capabilities to extend product life through maintenance and repair. Information exchange has been identified as a critical factor in advancing the principles of a circular economy, and this research was conducted to illustrate how information exchange can facilitate maintenance and repair.

Design/methodology/approach: The study has a case study approach of collecting data through semi-structured interviews and questionnaires.

Findings: Information exchange on what and when to do something engages end-users in maintenance and facilitates learning. For repair, the problem description and possible solutions are information that must be exchanged. Both types of information exchange are facilitated by simple tech solutions relying on known and inexpensive technology (e.g. e-mail service, video call and text messaging).

Research limitations/implications: The study contributes to the organisational development and knowledge management fields with novel insights on how information exchange and circular economy are related and can be facilitated.

Practical implications: The study provides insights for companies looking for solutions on how to generate revenue from services and reduce resource consumption. The findings of the study suggest that the development of circular business models does not always require expensive high-tech solutions.

Originality/value: To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is unique as it is empirically based on insights into how information exchange can extend product life through the use of simple digital tools.