Circular Economy Services
Turn circular ambition into something that works
We help organizations design and implement circular products, services, business models and systems that create measurable value for customers, businesses and the wider ecosystem.
Our teams combine circular strategy, design, engineering, business model innovation and systems thinking — from opportunity to real-world operation.
What circular challenge
are you facing?
Start with the challenge that best describes your current situation.
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Finding the right circular opportunities
Discover where circularity can solve your organisation’s current and future challenges – far beyond sustainability.
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Designing circular business models
Develop circular business models that reduce business risk and open up new profit streams.
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Building systems that work
Build circular systems that keep your supply and sales resilient against geopolitical and market shocks.
How we help you
move forward
Our circular economy services bring strategy, design and implementation together.
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Strategy & Opportunity
Identify and prioritise circular opportunities and turn them into clear strategies.
- Circular opportunity mapping
- Value creation analysis
- Portfolio & roadmaps
- Regulatory & market foresight
- KPI & impact frameworks
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Design &
InnovationDesign products, services and business models that are desirable, viable and circular.
- Product & packaging design
- Service & experience design
- Business model innovation
- Materials & manufacturing
- Prototyping & validation
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Systems & Implementation
Build the systems, partnerships and capabilities that bring circular solutions to life.
- Value chains & ecosystems
- Reverse logistics & recovery
- Operating models & capabilities
- Change & adoption
- Impact measurement
Circular solutions only work when the whole system works
A circular product alone is not enough. It requires connected products, experiences, business models, operations, partners, data and behavior to create and capture value.
Whitepapers & guides
Pioneers in circular
economy since 2022
We were among the first to publish practical guides on the circular economy. Since 2022, our whitepapers, case studies and indices have set the benchmark for the industry — from circular design to measuring how Germany’s largest companies really perform.
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2022 · Design guide
A Quick Design Guide to the Circular Economy
We need circular value propositions that benefit both businesses and the environment, balancing all stakeholders’ interests. This white paper offers a quick guide to circular design — from circular business models to incentivising their adoption.
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Toolkit
Circular Design Guide by INDEED
A practical shortcut to circular design.
A curated collection of proven tools and strategies to help you understand, choose and apply circular design in real-world projects.
- Designed for do-ers.
- Selected with care.
- Built with intention.
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Whitepaper
Circular Sanitation: Turning Toilets Into Resource Hubs
What if what you flush away today could help grow the food on your plate tomorrow?
Real-world cases, proven technologies and economic modelling show how circular sanitation works at building and city scale — without sacrificing comfort or hygiene.
With benefits for households, developers and municipalities: lower utility costs, new revenue streams, compliance and long-term financial returns.
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2025 · Case study
Enabling Circular Economy in MedTech
A feasibility case study on how the MedTech industry can transition to a circular economy through collaborative innovation. It introduces the “White Dot” system — an approach that turns medical waste into valuable resources while ensuring healthcare compliance and economic viability for all stakeholders.
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2026 · Index
Circularity Index 2026
The reality behind DAX40’s circular economy claims.
- Performance analysis of all 40 DAX companies across 22 circular economy indicators.
- 6 industry-specific pathways with tailored strategies and actionable recommendations.
- Best-practice cases from GEA Group, Deutsche Telekom, Beiersdorf and RWE.
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2026 · Playbook
The Recommerce Playbook: From Returns to Revenue
How are leading brands turning returns into revenue?
- The $137B global recommerce market, projected to reach $335B by 2033 — with 14% annual growth in Germany alone.
- Why refurbished products retain 65–80% of margin, while recycling recovers less than 10%.
- An implementation framework with 5 success factors, 5 traps to avoid and a clear path from pilot to scale.
Our work
CEO Project | European Union
Lufthansa Technik
Walmart
Covestro
confidential client
Circular Design Clinic
Developed by INDEED Innovation and the German Design Council, the Circular Design Clinic is a one-day workshop that brings circular design frameworks into practice. Work on your own product or service with experts to identify opportunities, explore business potential and define actionable next steps.
Previous participants include
tesa · TRILUX · Tchibo · Rosenthal · Velux · Philips
The third edition takes place in 2027. Date and programme to be announced.
Circular economy: your questions answered
It depends on what you already know and what you need to test.
If you’re unsure where circularity can create business value, start with the Circular Opportunity Sprint.
If you have a defined opportunity, the Circular Design & Business Model Sprint helps turn it into a workable offering.
If your solution is ready for testing in real operating conditions, start with the Circular System Pilot.
Each entry point ends with a clear recommendation: move forward, refine the approach or stop.
Our entry points are designed to answer specific questions within a focused timeframe:
Circular Opportunity Sprint: typically 4–6 weeks.
Circular Design & Business Model Sprint: typically 6–8 weeks.
Circular System Pilot: typically 8–12 weeks.
For teams that need a faster starting point, we can also run a 2-day direction workshop to align on the challenge, explore opportunities and define the next steps.
The timing depends on the scope, available data, and access to customers and partners. Longer development programmes can build on these phases, taking a solution through design, engineering and validation towards market launch.
Circular economy services help businesses keep products, components and materials in use while creating customer and commercial value. At INDEED, we connect circular strategy with product design, services, business models and operations to identify opportunities, develop solutions and test their real-world potential.
This can help businesses increase profitability, strengthen resilience and meet the expectations of increasingly eco-conscious customers.
Start with your products, customers and value chain. Where is value being lost through waste, returns, underused products or short product lifetimes? We help assess these opportunities against customer needs, business potential and implementation requirements, then prioritise where to act first.
We define KPIs based on the opportunity, the decisions your team needs to make and the outcomes you want to achieve. These may include product lifetime, repair and return rates, material recovery, customer adoption, delivery costs and revenue.
We also help translate circularity metrics into business performance indicators, such as cost savings, revenue growth and EBIT impact. Environmental assessments consider the effects of transport, processing and repeated use, helping teams evaluate trade-offs and measure both business and environmental performance.
Yes. We help turn circular concepts into workable products, services and systems. This can include prototyping, validating customer experiences, defining operating models, developing reverse logistics and identifying partners. We connect these elements so teams can test the whole solution and understand what it takes to scale.