Chapter 7
Material-service Systems for Sustainable
Resource Management
Marco Aurisicchio, Anouk Zeeuw Van Der Laan, and Mike Tennant
Abstract In current supply chains, material suppliers sell raw material resources
to producers who sub-sequentially sell produced resourced to consumers. Ownership of resources, therefore, shifts from a few organisations to many consumers who
are responsible to deal with them at the end of life. Product-service systems are
business models where producers retaining ownership of produced resources have
increased control on obsolete resources. Motivated by the need to facilitate an unlimited use of materials and eliminate waste, this research has introduced the concept of
material-service systems, which are business models where material suppliers offer
materials as a service to product producers. These systems offer the advantage that
material suppliers are in control of resources and are incentivized to revalorise them.
A scenario is explored in which a material-service system operates in conjunction
with a product-service system and one in which it functions on its own. Finally, the
benefits and incentives of the proposed service systems are discussed along with
potential enablers and challenges.
Keywords Material-service system · Business model · Resource efficiency ·
Circular economy · Sustainability
7.1 Introduction
For a long time, our economy has been linear. We have taken material resources from
our planet; used them to make products; and disposed of them as waste. Within this
system, consumerism and population growth have propelled a use of resources that
has outpaced the sustainable capacity of the ecosystem and led to the accumulation
of waste (Stahel 2010). The depletion of material resources is making their prices
M. Aurisicchio (B) · A. Z. Van Der Laan
Dyson School of Design Engineering, Imperial College, London, UK
e-mail: m.aurisicchio@imperial.ac.uk
M. Tennant
Centre for Environmental Policy, Imperial College, London, UK
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
Y. Kishita et al. (eds.), EcoDesign and Sustainability I, Sustainable Production, Life Cycle
Engineering and Management, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-6779-7_7
89
Material-service Systems for Sustainable
Resource Management
Marco Aurisicchio, Anouk Zeeuw Van Der Laan, and Mike Tennant
Abstract In current supply chains, material suppliers sell raw material resources
to producers who sub-sequentially sell produced resourced to consumers. Ownership of resources, therefore, shifts from a few organisations to many consumers who
are responsible to deal with them at the end of life. Product-service systems are
business models where producers retaining ownership of produced resources have
increased control on obsolete resources. Motivated by the need to facilitate an unlimited use of materials and eliminate waste, this research has introduced the concept of
material-service systems, which are business models where material suppliers offer
materials as a service to product producers. These systems offer the advantage that
material suppliers are in control of resources and are incentivized to revalorise them.
A scenario is explored in which a material-service system operates in conjunction
with a product-service system and one in which it functions on its own. Finally, the
benefits and incentives of the proposed service systems are discussed along with
potential enablers and challenges.
Keywords Material-service system · Business model · Resource efficiency ·
Circular economy · Sustainability
7.1 Introduction
For a long time, our economy has been linear. We have taken material resources from
our planet; used them to make products; and disposed of them as waste. Within this
system, consumerism and population growth have propelled a use of resources that
has outpaced the sustainable capacity of the ecosystem and led to the accumulation
of waste (Stahel 2010). The depletion of material resources is making their prices
M. Aurisicchio (B) · A. Z. Van Der Laan
Dyson School of Design Engineering, Imperial College, London, UK
e-mail: m.aurisicchio@imperial.ac.uk
M. Tennant
Centre for Environmental Policy, Imperial College, London, UK
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
Y. Kishita et al. (eds.), EcoDesign and Sustainability I, Sustainable Production, Life Cycle
Engineering and Management, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-6779-7_7
89