The concept of a circular economy is built around the notion of keeping materials and products in use for as long as possible, then recovering and regenerating them at end-of-life. Rather than the traditional linear model of “take -> make -> use -> dispose”, a circular economy flips this into “use -> reuse -> refurbish -> recycle”.
One of the key business model enablers of this shift is Equipment-as-a-Service (EaaS) (or more broadly Product-Service Systems), where instead of buying and owning expensive equipment, customers pay for the service or outcome delivered by that equipment. This model aligns incentives toward durability, maintenance, efficiency, and reuse, thereby supporting circular economy goals.
Below are several real-world examples illustrating how the circular economy plus Equipment-as-a-Service can work — starting with a rental/hire firm, and then spanning global manufacturers that have embraced service-oriented, circular models.
1. All Lift Forklifts & Access Equipment
In Australia, All Lift Forklifts & Access Equipment provides an example of how equipment rental/hire aligns with circular economy thinking and the service-model shift. Based on publicly available information, the company specializes in forklift and access equipment rental, hire, sales, and servicing.
For example, a customer may engage with them for all lift forklift hire Brisbane, meaning rather than investing in asset ownership (forklifts), the customer pays for the hire service, accesses the right machine when needed, and relies on the provider for maintenance and availability.
Why this matters from a circular/EaaS perspective:
- The rental/hire model means equipment is used by multiple customers over its lifecycle, improving utilisation and avoiding early disposal.
- The provider retains ownership and responsibility for maintenance, repair and eventual refurbishment or resale.
- Customers avoid capital expenditure, get flexibility, and the provider is incentivised to keep machines running, efficient, and well-maintained (aligning with circular goals).
Key takeaways:
- All Lift provides a practical example of a local equipment-as-a-service offering in the material-handling sector.
- When customers opt for “hire” rather than purchase, the provider can more easily track usage, manage maintenance, refurbish equipment, and redeploy assets — extending life and reducing waste.
- For organisations in Brisbane or Australia more broadly, this shows how rental/hire models can support circular economy principles.
2. Philips / signify – Lighting “As A Service”
One of the most-often-cited global examples of circular economy + service model is Philips’s transition in its lighting business. Philips (now Signify) moved from selling light fixtures to offering Lighting-as-a-Service (LaaS): customers pay for light, not for the equipment.
How it works:
Philips installs, monitors, maintains, and upgrades the lighting system under a service contract. The customer pays for the performance (e.g., lux levels, uptime, energy efficiency) rather than buying the fixtures outright. At end-of-contract, Philips takes back the equipment, refurbishes or recycles it, thus closing the loop on materials.
Because they still own the assets, Philips has an incentive to design for durability, easy disassembly, modularity, and refurbishment — key circular design features.
Circular economy benefits:
- Extends the usable life of lighting fixtures and components (reuse/refurbishment) rather than one-time use and disposal.
- Reduces raw material demand and energy use via better design, upgrades, and service.
- Gives customers access to up-to-date technology without the upfront capital purchase, and shifts equipment risk to the provider (who is best placed to manage it).
- Example: In one pilot, customers pay for the light used, and Philips ensures the system’s performance, maintaining ownership and facilitating materials recovery.
Photo by Corey Willett on Unsplash
3. Caterpillar Inc. – Equipment-As-A-Service In Heavy Machinery
In the heavy-equipment (construction, mining) sector, Caterpillar provides a compelling example of shifting from pure sales of machines to servicing outcomes and moving toward an EaaS-type model.
Key features:
- Instead of simply selling machines, Caterpillar offers services around machine utilisation, performance, maintenance, and lifecycle management (including refurbishment).
- The provider (or OEM) retains more of the lifecycle responsibility, meaning that machines are more likely to be maintained, updated, redeployed, and ultimately refurbished, which aligns well with circular economy logic.
For customers, the benefits include:
- Lower upfront capital cost (they don’t have to buy the machine outright).
- Better utilisation (since machine downtime or inefficiencies are managed).
- More predictable budgeting (paying for use or outcomes).
Circular economy implications:
- The owner/provider has an incentive to keep machines running efficiently, refurbish components, and avoid wasteful replacement.
- By deploying service-based models, resources are kept in use for longer, performance is tracked (often via sensors/data), and end-of-life disposal is better managed.
- For example, academic/industry studies suggest that the EaaS model for Caterpillar gives them a “sticky partnership” with customers and supports reuse/servicing orientation.
4. Emerging Trends & Why This Matters
Beyond specific companies, several broader insights emerge from equipment-as-a-service + circular economy models:
- Shift from ownership to access: Instead of purchasing equipment, customers pay for access to functionality (e.g., forklifts, lighting, heavy machines). This fundamentally changes incentives — providers want the equipment to last longer, be serviced well, and be reused.
- Incentives aligned with longevity: When the provider retains ownership, they benefit from keeping the asset productive. That drives design for durability, modularity, refurbishment, and eventual recycling.
- Data & servicing become strategic: Many service models rely on monitoring usage, condition, predictive maintenance, and lifecycle tracking. This data enables better decisions about when to refurbish, redeploy or recycle. (E.g., Caterpillar’s analytics focus.)
- Reduced upfront cost, improved flexibility for customers: Customers can avoid capital expenditure, pay for actual use, and benefit from upgrades and maintenance included in the service contract.
- Material & waste reduction: By extending asset life, reusing components, and responsibly managing end-of-life, these models reduce raw-material consumption and the waste footprint — which is at the heart of the circular economy.
- Challenges remain: For instance, providers need to manage asset tracking, ensure refurbishment processes, handle take-back logistics, and shift mindsets from selling units to selling outcomes. Also, contracts must ensure clarity of responsibilities and risks.
Wrapping Up
In summary, the intersection of the circular economy and Equipment-as-a-Service models offers a transformative approach to how businesses consume, design, and manage equipment.
Through service-based models, businesses like All Lift Forklifts & Access Equipment in Australia (with its forklifthire model), Philips/Signify in lighting (via Lighting as a Service,) and Caterpillar in heavy machinery are showing how this shift is real and growing.
