Circularity at Airbus: How SecondLife Cuts Waste and Costs
24,000 Airbus employees trade unused industrial assets on a digital marketplace. How SecondLife saved 160 tons of waste and 1,600 tons of CO2 in three years.
Irresistible Circular Business
In our new series Irresistible Circular Business, you’ll discover business practices that deliver irresistible commercial and circular results. Produced in partnership with INDEED Innovation, this series showcases how circular economy strategies drive both profitability and sustainability across six companies: Vitra, Johnson & Johnson, Whirlpool, Philips, Breitling, and Airbus.
What makes a circular business irresistible? These companies are profitable and circular in a way that contributes to business success. They prove that circularity delivers commercial results while reducing resource dependency. They’re resource-efficient, strategically resilient, and built to last.
Across six episodes, you’ll see how companies in diverse industries use different R-strategies and make circularity work in practice:
- Vitra on scaling refurbishment through dealer networks with Vitra Circle for Contract
- Johnson & Johnson on medical device take-back programs that drive sales and access secondary materials
- Whirlpool Corporation on their certified appliance refurbishment program in North America
- Philips on implementing multiple circular strategies for medical equipment
- Breitling on luxury watch refurbishment through Breitling Rewind
- Airbus on SecondLife, their internal marketplace for equipment reuse across divisions
This series is sponsored by INDEED Innovation, the global design and innovation firm pioneering the Circular Economy. In each episode, a member of the INDEED innovation team joins Patrick Hypscher as co-host to uncover why circularity isn’t just sustainable – it’s irresistible.
The co-hosts are: Karel J. Golta Founder and CEO; Michael Leitl Executive Director; Heiko Tullney Executive Director; and Florian M. Witt Director of Technology at INDEED Innovation.
About INDEED Innovation:
INDEED Innovation is the global design and innovation firm pioneering the Circular Economy. As a B-Corp firm with 15 years in the market, they partner with businesses to create circular products, services, and systems that eliminate waste, regenerate resources, and close lifecycle loops. Their multidisciplinary team of engineers, designers, and strategists makes the circular economy irresistible for business, people, and planet through design, engineering, and behavioral science. By combining these disciplines with strategy, INDEED Innovation pioneers circular business models that help companies thrive and actively contribute to the circular economy community.
Their work includes:
- ReCommerce Playbook: https://www.indeed-innovation.com/the-recommerce-playbook-from-returns-to-revenue/
- Circularity Index 2026: https://www.indeed-innovation.com/circularity-index-2026/
- Refurbishment Guide: https://www.indeed-innovation.com/refurbishment-the-ingredient-for-future-growth/
- The White Dot: An initiative of the ZUKE Green Community and INDEED Innovation developing practical ways to achieve a circular economy in hospitals. https://zuke-green.de/initiative-weisser-punkt/
Find out more on: https://www.indeed-innovation.com/
Episodes
6 episodes in this series
Breitling Rewind: Repair as a Heritage Business Model
Some Breitling watches increased 8x in value over two decades. Aurelia Figueroa and Gianfranco Gentile on why heritage is the ultimate circular strategy.
Circular Strategy at Philips: Turning Trade-Ins Into Revenue
Philips refurbs MRI systems to as-new quality at 70% of the original price. Patrick Lerou on how circular trade-ins drive revenue and supply resilience.
Direct-to-Consumer: Whirlpool Corp’s Certified Refurb Strategy
How does Whirlpool turn returned appliances into revenue? Samantha Truesdell and Caio Doranti on building a certified refurb program that already pays for itself.
MedTech Recycling: Johnson & Johnson’s Waste-to-Value Model
How J&J MedTech turns take-back into growth: lower hospital waste costs, measurable impact reports, and a scalable model across markets.
Circular Furniture: How Vitra Circle Scales Refurb via Dealers
Can decades-old furniture fuel a profitable circular business? Rolf Keller on Vitra's B2B buyback model: 90% paid, 60–90% CO2 saved, 20% lower prices.