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As industries around the world grapple with environmental challenges and diminishing resources, the traditional linear economy—the "take-make-dispose" model—is disappearing. It is yielding to the circular economy (CE), a regenerative system designed to keep products, components, and materials in continuous circulation, thereby dramatically reducing waste, conserving vital resources, and minimizing environmental harm. At the heart of this paradigm shift is a powerful but often overlooked force: maintenance. Once an operational afterthought, maintenance is emerging as an enabler of the circular economy of the future.

Closed loop circularity for a longer product lifespan

It is no longer just about fixing machines; it is about breathing new life into assets and extending their useful lifecycle. This transformation allows industries to keep parts and products in use longer, cutting down on the need for raw materials, and regenerating value through proactive repair, refurbishment, and remanufacturing. In effect, maintenance closes the loop—ensuring resources keep circulating within the economy rather than being prematurely discarded. As industries adopt circular strategies, the focus shifts from replacement and disposal to preservation and renewal. Maintenance enables this shift by ensuring products and machinery last longer and perform at peak efficiency throughout their extended lifecycles. Instead of buying new parts or equipment, industries can rely on maintenance strategies like refurbishment or remanufacturing to breathe new life into existing components. This not only reduces waste but also minimizes resource extraction, in harmony with the circular economy’s ethos of maximizing value at every turn.

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Circular Economy in Motion Maintenance keeps materials flowing, reducing waste and maximizing resource use.

This article explores how modern maintenance strategies—especially predictive maintenance (PdM) powered by artificial intelligence (AI)—are reshaping the industrial landscape. We use real-world examples, data-driven insights, and cutting-edge strategies to show how maintenance is driving the transition toward a sustainable, circular future.

PdM: The AI-Driven Key to Circular Economy Success

Imagine a world where machines monitor their own health—anticipating repairs, predicting malfunctions, and requesting maintenance before breakdowns occur. No more sudden shutdowns, no more wasteful replacements. PdM is turning this vision into reality. By leveraging real-time data, AI, and the Internet of Things (IoT), PdM is transforming the way industries manage their assets, making it a cornerstone of the circular economy. In the linear economy, equipment failures lead to only one outcome: replacement. But in a circular economy, PdM flips the script. By foreseeing failures before they happen, PdM drastically reduces waste, prolonging the life of valuable assets. It ensures machinery runs smoothly, minimizing environmental impact and maximizing efficiency.

AI offers immediate real-time fault detection

PdM doesn’t merely address visible wear and tear; it detects subtle, often invisible signs of deterioration. Using a network of IoT sensors, it continuously tracks the health of equipment, while AI analyses real-time data to predict failures with remarkable precision. These systems continuously assess the condition of critical components. Take, for instance, the maintenance of airplane turbine blades. Instead of following a rigid, time-based maintenance schedule that risks premature or delayed part replacements, PdM detects the precise moment when a blade begins to wear out. A targeted, timely intervention extends the life of the component, reducing waste and resource consumption—directly supporting the circular economy’s goal of maximizing asset longevity.

The marriage of AI and IoT in PdM revolutionizes operational efficiency. These systems can process vast quantities of data, spotting patterns and trends that would otherwise go unnoticed. But PdM isn’t just about preventing breakdowns—it is a key enabler of circularity. By identifying components that can be repaired, refurbished, or upgraded before they fail, PdM ensures parts are used to their fullest potential. Machines and parts are kept in circulation, reducing the need for new raw materials.
As more industries adopt forward-looking maintenance strategies, we are witnessing a seismic shift in asset management. PdM’s cutting-edge technology ensures assets stay in use longer, supporting sustainable practices while minimizing waste. In this new paradigm, maintenance is no longer seen as a burdensome cost—it is a critical, AI-driven tool propelling industries toward a future of resource optimization and circularity.

Circular Economy Business Models: Rethinking Maintenance as the Lifeblood of Sustainability

In a world where sustainability is no longer a choice but a necessity, the circular economy is radically transforming how industries operate. The once-dominant linear economy is giving way to a new paradigm where products remain in circulation for as long as possible. PdM is at the heart of this transformation; it ensures products and machinery remain functional and valuable through processes like repair, remanufacturing, and refurbishment.

Imagine an industrial world where nothing is built to fail. A fitting metaphor can be drawn from the 1951 classic film “The Man in the White Suit,” where the protagonist invents a fabric that never wears out. This discovery wreaks havoc on the textile industry, as planned obsolescence—the practice of designing products to fail after a predetermined time—suddenly collapses. The film’s disruptive premise parallels the role PdM plays in industry today. Just like that indestructible white suit, it thwarts business models rooted in planned obsolescence. It extends the life of industrial components and assets, enabling companies to embrace sustainability by reducing waste and the need for constant replacements.

Product-as-a-service, everyone wins

In the circular economy, innovative business models thrive by placing maintenance at their core. Take Product-as-a-Service (PaaS) as an example. In this model, companies no longer simply sell products—they retain ownership and provide the product as a service, maintaining it throughout its lifecycle. Consider aircraft engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce, for example. Instead of selling engines outright, it offers them as a service to airlines, shouldering the responsibility of maintenance and ensuring optimal performance. Then, by using PdM to monitor engine health in real time, Rolls-Royce keeps its engines running efficiently for longer periods, minimizing waste and supporting circular economy principles by extending the lifecycle of each asset.

A new life for old equipment

Remanufacturing offers another compelling business model built on the foundation of PdM. The automotive industry has embraced remanufacturing to reduce resource consumption and lower production costs. Companies like Renault have perfected the art of remanufacturing by refurbishing old engines and making them nearly as good as new. But the success of remanufacturing hinges on maintenance—particularly PdM—to monitor the health of each engine and intervene before catastrophic failures occur. By tracking the wear and tear of individual components, PdM ensures critical parts reach their full potential, supporting remanufacturing efforts and enabling the reuse of valuable resources.

Closing the loop and minimizing waste

Perhaps the most significant contribution of maintenance to the circular economy is its ability to enable closed-loop supply chains. In these systems, products are returned to the manufacturer at the end of their lifecycle to be remanufactured, recycled, or refurbished. PdM optimizes this process by providing manufacturers with real-time data on the condition of components throughout their lifecycle. When a product returns for remanufacturing, manufacturers know exactly which parts can be reused and which need recycling. This allows maximum resource efficiency, directly aligning with the circular economy’s ultimate goal: to keep materials in circulation for as long as possible while minimizing waste.

Without maintenance, specifically PdM, the circular economy would fail. Maintenance is the invisible force that holds circular business models together, ensuring assets remain in optimal condition for as long as possible. In this way, maintenance becomes the enabler of a new industrial era—one where assets are designed to last, resources are preserved, and sustainability is the new business-as-usual.

Sustainability in Motion: Tracking the Impact of Maintenance through Key Indicators

Industries pivoting toward sustainability must evaluate the effectiveness of their maintenance strategies—not just in terms of operational efficiency but also in terms of resource conservation and waste reduction. But in the fast-evolving world of circular economy practices, how do we measure success? The answer lies in key performance indicators (KPIs), which provide the metrics necessary to quantify the environmental and economic impact of maintenance activities.

In the circular economy, maintenance transcends its traditional role of keeping machines running to become a tool for optimizing resource use over time. KPIs allow companies to track this optimization in a tangible way, turning abstract sustainability goals into actionable, measurable results. Critical sustainability-focused KPIs include those tracking CO2 emissions avoided per repair, waste reduced per intervention, and energy saved through predictive or preventive maintenance. These metrics empower businesses to gauge the environmental value of extending the lifespan of assets, reducing the need for new components and conserving resources.

See the difference

Every repair and every refurbishing effort can now be quantified in terms of its contribution to sustainability. Take the aviation industry, for example. Airlines use KPIs to measure CO2 emissions saved per flight hour as a direct result of PdM. This allows them to calculate both financial savings and the environmental benefits of reducing unnecessary repairs and extending the lifespan of key components like turbine engines. These metrics paint a holistic picture of how maintenance practices align with sustainability goals, showing companies how they are actively contributing to a circular economy.

The power of KPIs lies in their ability to offer data-driven insights that help refine strategies over time. Imagine a fleet of commercial planes, each fitted with sensors that constantly monitor engine health, fuel efficiency, and component wear. Through this continuous stream of data, businesses can adjust their maintenance strategies in real time to maximize both performance and sustainability.

Another crucial set of KPIs focuses on component lifecycle management. In industries such as automotive manufacturing, where components like engines or gears can be repaired or remanufactured multiple times, KPIs track how well maintenance interventions extend the useful life of these parts. The ability to measure how much longer an engine can run thanks to timely maintenance interventions directly contributes to reducing waste and lessening the demand for raw materials.

The EN 15341:2019 standard offers a structured framework for maintenance performance measurement that incorporates both economic and environmental outcomes. By adhering to these standards, businesses can ensure their maintenance strategies are not just keeping machines operational but are also aligned with their sustainability objectives. Every data point tells a story—of resources saved, emissions reduced, and a world moving ever closer to a sustainable future.

Planned Obsolescence: The Villain that PdM Can Defeat

In the narrative of sustainability, few villains loom as large as planned obsolescence. A business model designed to make products fail prematurely, it traps industries and consumers in a vicious cycle of consumption, waste, and replacement. Planned obsolescence is short-term strategy prioritizing profit over longevity, thus driving resource depletion and filling landfills with products that could have been repaired or maintained.

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Old electronics get a second life through smart maintenance and remanufacturing.

"The Light Bulb Conspiracy", a documentary about the infamous Phoebus cartel of light bulb manufacturers, gives a powerful example of planned obsolescence. In the 1920s, the cartel conspired to limit the lifespan of light bulbs to 1,000 hours, even though technology existed to make them last far longer. This conspiracy ensured consumers were forced to purchase new bulbs frequently, driving profits at the expense of sustainability. In stark contrast, the Centennial Light Bulb in Livermore, California, has lasted for over a century—an example of what is possible when products are designed for durability, not disposability.

Breaking free and living long

PdM offers industries a way to break free from planned obsolescence. By using AI, IoT sensors, and real-time data, PdM systems can detect subtle signs of wear and tear before catastrophic failure occurs. This proactive approach allows companies to maintain and repair products at the right time, extending their lifespan and conserving resources. Take the smartphone industry, where devices are often designed with non-replaceable batteries and components that become obsolete within just a few years. In this model, consumers are forced to buy new phones instead of repairing or upgrading their old ones. But imagine a world where smartphones are equipped with sensors that monitor battery health and alert users when it is time to replace a part. Instead of throwing the device away, consumers could extend its life through a simple repair, drastically reducing e-waste. This is the promise of PdM—a model where products are designed for longevity, not failure.

The automotive industry tells a similar story. Planned obsolescence has led to the creation of sealed components, such as transmissions or electronic control units, which are nearly impossible to repair. This forces car owners to replace entire systems rather than fix individual parts, contributing to a massive amount of waste. But with PdM, the health of these components can be monitored throughout their lifecycle. By detecting early signs of wear and tear, maintenance can be performed before the part fails, allowing repairs instead of replacements.

At its core, the battle between planned obsolescence and PdM is one of philosophies. On the one side, we have a system built on disposability and frequent replacement—generating enormous waste and depleting valuable resources. On the other, we have a system that values longevity, repairability, and sustainability. In this battle, PdM emerges as the victor, offering a way to escape the wasteful cycle of planned obsolescence, extending the life of products, reducing waste, and creating a future where resources are conserved for generations to come.

Real-World Applications of PdM: From Factory Floors to Circular Futures

From manufacturing plants to high-tech industries, PdM is being used not only to keep machines running efficiently but also to drive the circular economy. Picture a sprawling industrial facility, its machinery humming with activity. In the traditional linear economy, when one critical part of this system breaks down, the ripple effect leads to downtime, wasted resources, and costly replacements. But in today’s world of PdM, something entirely different happens. Sensors track vibrations, temperatures, and energy consumption, analysing the data in real time to detect subtle wear and tear. Long before a breakdown occurs, maintenance systems flag the component for repair or replacement, keeping the factory running smoothly and efficiently, with minimal disruption. This means fewer wasted parts, less downtime, and significantly lower operational costs. In essence, the factory becomes a symbol of circularity—doing more with less.

Heavy industry has been quick to adopt PdM. Take the massive turbines powering energy plants or the complex conveyor systems in large-scale factories, for example. In the past, maintenance was performed according to fixed schedules, regardless of actual need, often leading to unnecessary part replacements or equipment overuse. Today, with condition-based maintenance, equipment is continuously monitored, and maintenance is performed only when necessary, saving companies both time and resources. The machines continue running, producing at full capacity while using fewer materials—a perfect alignment with the goals of a circular economy.

Sensors know – and tell us so

In the automotive sector, PdM has become a game changer. Once, engines and components were designed to be replaced after a fixed number of miles, but today’s vehicles are built with sensors that monitor every aspect of their operation. These sensors provide real-time data on everything from oil levels to brake wear, ensuring components are maintained or replaced only when necessary. This extends the life of the vehicle and keeps valuable materials in use for longer, reducing the need for raw resource extraction.

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In the 1951 classic film “The Man in the White Suit,” the protaganist invents a fabric that never wears out. Photo: United Archives GmbH / Alamy Stock Photo

Even in the consumer electronics industry—historically dominated by planned obsolescence—PdM is making waves. Smartphones and laptops, once considered disposable after a few years of use, are now being equipped with smart maintenance systems. These systems can detect when a battery is degrading or a processor is under strain, permitting a simple repair or part replacement instead of a new purchase. This shift is crucial in reducing the massive amounts of electronic waste that end up in landfills each year. PdM ensures technology can have a much longer and more sustainable lifecycle.

In every industry, from consumer goods to heavy manufacturing, maintenance is stepping into a new role as the hero of the circular economy. It is no longer just about fixing what is broken—it is about rethinking how products and machinery are designed, maintained, and kept in use. Beyond improving sustainability, this represents a financial boon for companies. Reducing waste, conserving resources, and extending the life of equipment create significant cost savings, blurring the line between profitability and sustainability.

PdM is the key to unlocking the full potential of the circular economy. By maximizing the use of resources, minimizing waste, and ensuring equipment and products last as long as possible, industries are setting themselves up for long-term success, both financially and environmentally. PdM is the driving force behind a sustainable, circular future—proving that what’s good for business can also be good for the planet.

Conclusion: The Unsung Hero of Sustainability – Maintenance in the Circular Economy

The journey from a linear economy to a circular one isn’t just about reducing waste; it is about fundamentally rethinking how we interact with the products and machines we rely on. In this new reality, industrial assets—from turbines and engines to smartphones and consumer electronics—are no longer seen as disposable, short-lived items. They are valuable resources that can be kept in use for far longer through PdM, which leverages data, AI, and IoT to maximize asset longevity and performance.

Beyond simply making products last longer, PdM drives value at every stage of the product lifecycle, from initial design through reuse, repair, refurbishment, and beyond. The wasteful pattern of discarding and replacing is giving way to a new model where products are continuously monitored, maintained, repaired, and kept in use for as long as possible. Resources are cycled back into the production loop instead of ending up in landfills, and maintenance becomes the keystone in a sustainable development strategy.

Industries that are embracing PdM are discovering that it isn’t just an environmental responsibility—it is a competitive advantage. By reducing costs, increasing operational efficiency, and optimizing the lifespan of assets, PdM supports the core goals of the circular economy: resource efficiency, waste reduction, and long-term sustainability. As industries continue to evolve, those that embrace PdM will find themselves at the forefront of a new, more sustainable, and more profitable industrial paradigm. The unsung hero of the circular economy, maintenance, is quietly but powerfully reshaping the future of industry.

Text: Prof. DIEGO GALAR / Prof. RAMIN KARIM / Prof. UDAY KUMAR
Images: ShutterStock, Alamy, Freepik