@ARTICLE{10.21494/ISTE.OP.2020.0441, TITLE={Product-service systems as business models for the circular economy: potential and limitations}, AUTHOR={Pereira Ángeles, Vence Xavier, }, JOURNAL={Technology and Innovation}, VOLUME={5}, NUMBER={Issue 1
}, YEAR={2020}, URL={https://openscience.fr/Product-service-systems-as-business-models-for-the-circular-economy-potential}, DOI={10.21494/ISTE.OP.2020.0441}, ISSN={2399-8571}, ABSTRACT={The circular economy (CE) defines a new paradigm of production and consumption that seeks to reduce resource consumption and to extend the useful life of products and services through various strategies and closed loops, by trying to avoid waste generation as much as possible or by using waste as a resource for new processes. As such, innovative business models, including product-service systems (PSS), are considered as a central element for the achievement of the CE. This article analyzes PSS business models’ contribution to the implementation of the circular economy. It is based on a critical review of the literature from the late 1980s up to the present day. In recent years, the potential benefits of PSS to improve eco-efficiency have been highlighted. However, the specific contribution of PSS to the CE remains to be explored. Although the literature tends to advocate for greater efficiency of results-oriented PSS, there are in reality only a few examples of this. By contrast, the CE opens up new opportunities for a combination of products and services. The key is not so much the transition along a product-service axis as it is the provision of support services for products and their components that prolong their life cycle. In our paper, we argue that the CE opens up new possibilities for services or combinations of products and services. The PSSs that we analyzed, which are focused on unique cases and their contribution to eco-efficiency, have limits. Therefore, we conclude that it is necessary to adopt a systemic and critical perspective in the analysis of PSS business models and in their promotion so that they can effectively serve the principles of the circular economy.}}