The Principle of Refurbish in Circular Economy: Products Better Than New

With rapidly increasing demands for sustainable products, the principle of refurbish plays a vital role as one building block of sustainable supply chain management. It refers to the professional general overhaul of products for reuse to extract their maximum value. This microchapter shows the immense potential for saving CO2, water and e-waste along the entire value chain when using refurbed products. In addition, the refurbishing process and the most important trends in the market are presented. A case study from Royal Philips, a global leader in health technology, illustrates which actions are effective when educating customers to adopt sustainable behaviour by purchasing refurbished products. The “Better Than New” campaign to create awareness for Philips’ refurbished products serves as an example.