CIRCULAR ECONOMY IN THE OUTDOOR INDUSTRY: ASSESSING PROGRESS, CHALLENGES, AND OPPORTUNITIES IN DEVELOPING CIRCULAR PRODUCT MODELS FOR OUTDOOR HARD GOODS PRODUCTS

The term "circular economy" is often used to describe an idealized consumer product model where products at the end of their useful life are recycled as inputs to material manufacturing or returned harmlessly to the biosphere. The transition to a circular economy, however, requires significant action by many parties across the global value chain and is still nascent. While there is an emerging body of research on this topic, hard goods in the outdoor industry is a product category that has not been the subject of much research to date. This report features case studies that assess various such products that represent components of circular product models. The case studies explore the progress made and challenges encountered in deploying circular product models. Finally, the report identifies opportunities to further deploy circular product models across this category and beyond.