In the process of changing the business model of biogas to subscription, a discussion about ownership emerged. Working in the international development sector, "ownership" is often used as an incentive for those who receive the benefits. However, it is not necessarily a good thing to have ownership. In the world of mass consumption, where ownership is sold, the producer is responsible for the product but not for its repair or disposal after a certain period. This tends to result in products that are either cheap or inferior.
The circular economy and the sharing economy are discussed simultaneously in the subscription model of business. This review paper covers recent discussions of the circular economy and the sharing economy.
Profiting from the subscription model means that users rent goods and services from producers continuously and pay for them on a fixed cycle. In other words, the user has no ownership of the goods or services. The sharing economy also has something in common with the subscription model, in that the goods used are not owned by one person, but by several people, or by no one person. In the subscription model, the producer owns the product and the longer the product is used, the more profit the producer makes. Therefore, there are similarities between the circular economy and the subscription model because the design of the product is less fragile, and the mechanism is more profitable in the long term.
The indirect similarity between the circular economy and the sharing economy is that the "design" of the product or the business is different from the conventional system. The direct common denominator is sustainability. Both new economies contribute to sustainability because they reduce the amount of materials, waste and energy involved in the production process, even if this is unintentional.
And the intention of both new economies is to increase profitability by reducing costs. This new approach, which is not aimed at sustainability, but will increase profitability, will contribute to sustainability more than the previous approaches, such as reducing consumption and picking up litter, aiming at environmental protection. Sustainability is not about good intentions alone, as these will not last. The fact that the business sector contributes to sustainability from the basis of ordinary life sets it apart from other approaches to environmental issues.
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