Circularity has become one of the most frequently discussed topics in sustainability. There is also a growing conversation around how circular business models impact business performance. In fact, the adoption of circular practices could add up to $360 billion in extra net profits annually by 2050.
Yet for many organizations responsible for building, operating, and maintaining facilities, it remains misunderstood. Too often, circularity is viewed as an end-of-life initiative focused on recycling materials after they are removed from a building.
In reality, the biggest opportunity to create circular outcomes happens much earlier.
At its core, circularity is a business strategy. It helps organizations reduce resource dependence, mitigate supply chain risks, optimize material value, and improve long-term asset performance. As material costs fluctuate and stakeholder expectations continue to rise, circular approaches can help organizations build resilience while creating both environmental and economic value.Organizations can specify for circularity by:
Every decision about what materials to purchase, how products are installed, how long they perform, and what happens to them when they're eventually replaced influences a building’s environmental impact, operational resilience, and long-term value.
Increasingly, these decisions also influence an organization's ability to manage costs, meet sustainability commitments, navigate evolving regulations, and demonstrate responsible stewardship of resources.
Today, designers, building owners, facilities teams, procurement professionals, and sustainability leaders all play an increasingly important role in making these decisions. They also determine whether a project supports a more circular economy, from specification to installation and removal.
Fortunately, embracing circularity doesn't require organizations to rethink how they build or renovate facilities completely. It starts with asking better questions during material selection. Consider the following four questions.
The most circular products help reduce the need for new raw materials from the start.
Products with high levels of recycled or bio-based content help reduce reliance on virgin resources while lowering embodied carbon associated with material extraction and manufacturing. They also help organizations build greater resilience into their supply chains by reducing dependence on increasingly constrained raw materials.
For procurement teams, this means evaluating not only cost and performance but also understanding where materials come from and how manufacturers source them. Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), Health Product Declarations (HPDs), and third-party certifications provide important transparency that allows buyers to compare products using credible, verifiable data rather than greenwashing marketing claims.
Circular procurement starts with choosing materials designed to remain valuable long before they're ever installed.
Replacing products less often reduces waste and helps extend the useful life of materials and spaces.
Facilities managers understand that every renovation carries costs beyond purchasing new materials. Installation, downtime, labor, waste removal, and operational disruption all contribute to a project’s true life cycle cost.
Selecting durable materials that can stand up to a building’s changing needs extends replacement cycles while reducing waste and emissions associated with virgin and raw materials. Choosing flexible products that allow for selective replacement or modular upgrades extends the life of interior spaces.
However, longevity alone is not always enough. Buildings, workplaces, and occupant needs continue to evolve over time, and the most circular solutions are often those that can evolve with them.
Maximizing the value products deliver while they’re in service is a key aspect of circularity.
Products that can be repaired, reconfigured, refreshed, or upgraded help preserve the value already embedded within a space. By designing for adaptability, organizations can maximize investments, reduce disruption, and minimize material consumption over time.
End-of-use planning should happen at the beginning of every project, not at demolition.
Organizations that consider material recovery during specification can dramatically reduce landfill waste and create value from manufacturing byproducts. Manufacturers who offer take-back programs and recycling initiatives can create opportunities to transform used products into resources rather than waste.
Importantly, recycling is only one component of a circular economy. The highest-value circular strategies often prioritize keeping products and materials in use through repair, reuse, refurbishment, and remanufacturing before recycling becomes necessary.
Understanding these pathways during specification helps ensure materials are selected, installed, and managed in ways that support future recovery and continued value creation.
This approach also supports broader business goals. Recovering materials helps organizations reduce life cycle costs and strengthen sustainability reporting.
When material recovery infrastructure is in place upfront, circularity becomes an operational advantage instead of an afterthought.
As sustainability commitments continue to grow, so do expectations for transparency.
Procurement professionals are increasingly tasked with distinguishing measurable environmental performance from unsupported claims. That makes manufacturer transparency more important than ever.
Organizations should do their research, looking beyond broad sustainability messaging to evaluate the evidence behind product claims.
As reporting expectations increase and sustainability disclosures become more sophisticated, transparent data is becoming a business necessity rather than simply a differentiator. Organizations need information they can trust to make informed decisions, measure performance, and communicate progress with confidence.
Consider factors such as:
Together, these all provide confidence that measurable results back sustainability commitments.
Transparency also enables sustainability teams to quantify environmental outcomes, helping organizations demonstrate progress toward carbon reduction, waste diversion, and broader sustainability objectives.
Circularity is often discussed through an environmental lens, but its business benefits are equally as compelling.
Thoughtful material decisions can improve supply chain resilience, reduce life cycle costs, minimize renovation waste, and help organizations respond to increasing customer and regulatory expectations. They also provide the data needed to measure progress and communicate results with confidence.
Looking ahead, circularity will become increasingly connected to broader priorities shaping the built environment, including resilience, human health, biodiversity, resource security, and regenerative design. These interconnections are expanding the conversation beyond waste reduction and resource efficiency toward a more holistic understanding of how buildings can contribute to both environmental and business performance.
As organizations continue investing in their buildings and portfolios, circularity should no longer be viewed as a niche sustainability initiative. It is a practical framework for making smarter material decisions that deliver operational, financial, and environmental value.
The path to a more circular built environment doesn't begin when materials are removed from a building. It begins with every specification, every purchase, and every decision about the materials that go into it.
Organizations that embrace this mindset will be better positioned to create spaces that generate lasting value, strengthen resilience, and meet the evolving demands of a resource-constrained world.
Moniqua Minter is the Americas Region Lead of Sustainability and Market Strategy for Interface, where she partners with commercial and market teams to help customers address sustainability challenges while advancing business growth and long-term value creation. In her role, she advances sustainability engagement across the region, partnering with customers and internal teams to support measurable environmental progress, commercial growth, and market differentiation.
