8. Household appliances and fur­ni­ture

The household appliances and furniture sector is a key area of consumption in the Nordic countries and is expected to grow alongside population and welfare increases. Frequent replacement of these products – both in private homes and office spaces – has led to rising waste generation, with much of it ending up in incineration or landfills (Besch, 2005). 

A major environmental challenge also lies in the production of furniture and appliances, which involves high production costs and a significant environmental footprint (European Commission, 2024d). Current trends towards shorter product lifecycles, often driven by aesthetic preferences rather than actual wear, further exacerbate the environmental impact. Studies indicate that furniture alone accounts for around 10% of a net-zero building’s total environmental impact, while appliances contribute up to 25% (Hoxha & Jusselme, 2017).

The need for new business models in the Nordic market is evident. While some initiatives already promote the resale of refurbished household products, incentives to design furniture and appliances for longevity and efficient end-of-life management are still lacking. PSS models could be the key to fostering more circular consumption in both B2C and B2B markets.

White goods and or large appliances are essential in Nordic households and businesses, ranging from washing machines to larger kitchen equipment. These appliances typically consist of various materials, with metals and plastics as primary components. While recycling systems aim to reduce the environmental impact of these products, they face limitations, particularly when dealing with hazardous materials like refrigerator fluids (Bracquené et al., 2021).

PSS models present an alternative to recycling by extending the lifespan of appliances through systematic reuse. By promoting regular maintenance and repair, PSS solutions can help appliances remain in use longer, reducing the need for premature disposal. Most PSS providers operating in the Nordic region focus heavily on circular practices, incorporating repair, remanufacturing, and recycling into their business models. These services cater to both B2C and B2B markets, offering economic benefits such as reduced maintenance costs, lower CO₂e emissions, and extended warranties.

A well-known case of a product-oriented PSS is the Norwegian company Norsk Ombruk, which specialises in remanufacturing and reselling refurbished consumer white goods like refrigerators, washing machines, ovens, dishwashers, and dryers. Norsk Ombruk retrieves products from waste streams and refurbishes them for resale. In 2017, the company reported saving 3,000 tonnes of CO₂e through its operations, although more recent data is necessary for updated environmental and economic assessments. Expanding its reach, Norsk Ombruk also operates in Denmark under the name Recirk, further embedding PSS practices in the Nordic market.

Electrolux’s Appliance-as-a-Service program, launched in 2022, marks a pioneering approach in Sweden’s rental market. SKB (Stockholms Kooperativa Bostadsförening) now subscribes to Electrolux’s service, which includes installation, care, and repair of appliances, extending product lifespans and lowering buildings' carbon footprint. Electrolux also manages refurbishment and recycling when replacements are necessary. Though this model shows promise for promoting a circular economy, specific environmental studies on the program’s benefits have yet to emerge (Electrolux Group, 2022).

However, international research, such as the Korean water purifier lifecycle assessment, has demonstrated the potential environmental benefits of such models. The study found that rental models could reduce environmental impacts by 32–37% compared to conventional ownership models, particularly by optimising maintenance schedules and use-phase energy consumption. Yet, concerns remain about resource depletion due to frequent maintenance, a challenge that PSS models must address (Chun & Lee, 2017). The study by (Sousa-Zomer et al., 2017) underscores the importance of lifecycle management in enhancing the environmental performance of PSS models within this product group. Practices such as designing for maintenance, remanufacturing, and recycling contribute to reducing resource consumption and extending product life. The emphasis on reuse and careful material selection during the product’s design phase is crucial for optimizing the sustainability potential of these models.

Furniture is a product group with significant circular potential, and PSS solutions are increasingly adopted, particularly in office environments and public procurement. These sectors see a growing trend in leasing and rental models due to their high turnover needs, sustainability goals, and budgetary flexibility. However, PSS models are still much less common in the private furniture market, which is the primary focus of the pilot projects in this study.

Currently, the Nordic market for private furniture PSS solutions is small, with only a handful of companies offering leasing and rental options to individual consumers. Most of these companies are relatively new, and many are in the process of scaling up or refining their business models. Despite this, the potential for growth in the private market is considerable, particularly among customers such as expats, students, and young professionals, who may have short-term or flexible living arrangements. These consumers are likely to appreciate the flexibility, reduced upfront costs, and convenience offered by furniture leasing.

If PSS providers in the private furniture market can successfully scale, there is potential to significantly extend the lifespan of furniture products, reduce the amount of furniture entering the waste stream, and promote investment in more durable, higher-quality furniture. By offering access to furniture rather than ownership, these companies can encourage the development and consumption of longer-lasting products that can be repaired, reused, and eventually recycled, supporting a more circular economy.

Furniture consumption is heavily influenced by personal taste and the role that furniture plays in shaping one’s identity and sense of self. This leads to very specific aesthetic and functional requirements, posing a challenge for PSS models, as they often rely on standardized products and offerings. The need for tailored solutions to meet individual customer demands limits the potential for offering standard PSS packages, making it difficult to scale such services.

A growing concern in recent years is the spread of pests, such as bed bugs, through second-hand furniture. This issue is particularly worrisome for landlords, who face significant costs for pest removal and property damage, along with potential reputational risks among renters. The fear that circular furniture solutions, such as rentals, may increase the risk of pest infestations presents a barrier to wider PSS adoption. For PSS providers, demonstrating effective safety and hygiene protocols is crucial to overcoming this concern and gaining trust from both landlords and consumers. The risk of spreading pests is, therefore, a top-of-mind issue for many landlords when it comes to furniture on the property, and some express that they believe that circular furniture solutions may increase this risk.

Another barrier is the general lack of awareness about the environmental benefits of renting or leasing furniture. Many consumers, when faced with a short-term need for furniture, may not realise that opting for a PSS solution can significantly reduce waste and environmental impact. Since sustainability is often a key selling point for PSS models, educating consumers about these benefits could help overcome this barrier and drive adoption.

A significant technical barrier PSS companies face in the furniture sector is the lack of robust digital infrastructure to manage key operational aspects. Many companies struggle with efficient inventory tracking, processing payments, handling orders, and maintaining seamless communication with customers. This gap in infrastructure presents challenges in scaling up operations and managing the logistical complexity of circular business models.

Opportunities do lie ahead, however, as digital solutions targeted at circular companies are emerging. This includes systems for keeping stock and subscription management built specifically for circular business models (Circuly, n.d.). Also, the development of digital product passports provides a possibility to share information and promote circular furniture flows (Vinnova, n.d.).

Economic factors are significant drivers of the attractiveness of furniture PSS models for private customers. One of the key advantages is the potential for customers to save money on direct furniture acquisition costs, as well as on related expenses such as transport, maintenance, and repair. Renting or leasing furniture eliminates the need for large upfront investments, especially for high-end, exclusive furniture items. This allows customers access to premium products without the financial burden of purchasing them outright. Additionally, PSS models remove the logistical challenges of storing furniture when not in use, offering further cost savings for individuals with temporary or changing needs, such as expats, students, or people in transitional living situations.

However, the Nordic furniture market poses challenges for PSS adoption, as it is largely dominated by affordable, flat-pack furniture options from well-established retailers. These companies offer low-cost, easily accessible furniture, creating stiff competition for PSS providers who must differentiate by highlighting other value propositions. PSS solutions need to emphasise benefits such as convenience, higher-quality products, sustainability, and transport services to attract customers unfamiliar with or hesitant about PSS models.

Moreover, one of the barriers is the entrenched consumer mindset that is accustomed to traditional ownership models. Successfully marketing PSS solutions requires educating potential customers on the long-term economic and environmental benefits, which may be difficult given the strong brand loyalty and affordability associated with traditional furniture retailers. To succeed, PSS companies need to compete not just on price but also on added value through sustainability, product durability, and design quality.

In general, there is little clarity regarding legal processes that apply to circular businesses, and this is also the case within the furniture sector. Many PSS providers face uncertainty regarding taxation, accounting, and legal processes due to the limited awareness and understanding of circular business models among professionals in these fields. Even experts in taxation and law sometimes hesitate to provide definitive guidance, highlighting the need for better frameworks and knowledge in circular economies.

Public procurement plays a major role in the furniture market in the Nordic region, particularly for large-scale furnishings in public spaces like schools, offices, and care homes. While public procurement policies are gradually moving toward circular models, they have yet to fully embrace PSS solutions at scale for individual housing, such as in care homes and public housing. To bridge this gap, public procurement criteria must be updated to integrate PSS providers. Furthermore, knowledge-sharing and capacity-building initiatives are essential to educate both procurement agencies and PSS businesses on how to implement circular solutions effectively within legal and procurement frameworks. Read more about public procurement in section 16.4.

Apart from moving towards purchasing furniture as a PSS solution, several municipalities in the Nordics are exploring how they themselves can become a sort of PSS provider for their public service entities by facilitatin a sort of take-back and then redistribution. By establishing a warehouse for discarded furniture and interior products and facilitating their collection and redistribution, municipalities can significantly reduce the procurement budgets for such items, save CO₂e by avoiding buying new items, and create inclusive jobs. Through the pilot study with Oslo Municipality, we found the following potential benefits for the municipality.

More details about the pilot study can be found in section 16.4.2.

The environmental potential of furniture PSS is apparent throughout the whole value chain, from production avoidance to extended product life and reduced end-of-life waste generation. However, these benefits depend on several factors that need to be fulfilled for the maximum environmental impact to be realised.

The most immediate environmental benefit of furniture PSS is the potential to avoid the need for new production. By facilitating furniture reuse across multiple households or businesses, PSS reduces the demand for newly manufactured items, lowering the energy, raw materials, and emissions typically associated with furniture production. The degree to which new production is avoided depends heavily on the specific PSS model. For instance, companies like Cohabit, a pilot company in this project, source furniture from individuals and institutions that no longer need certain items, refurbishing and reintroducing them into the market. This ensures that furniture that would otherwise be discarded, such as a bed destined for incineration, gets a second life and serves multiple users throughout at least 2–4 cycles.

In contrast, some PSS models source new furniture, which reduces the potential for immediate production avoidance. However, if the furniture is high quality and can go through multiple rental cycles, it can still mitigate future demand for new items. Many PSS providers, especially those targeting premium markets, invest in high-end furniture that is both durable and aesthetically appealing, extending its life and making it attractive for repeated use. Although such products are resource-intensive to manufacture, their long life offsets their initial environmental cost.

Furniture PSS also contributes to environmental sustainability during the use phase. One key driver is the flexibility offered by PSS solutions, which allow customers to exchange furniture as their needs evolve. This adaptability can help prevent unnecessary purchases of new items – and the associated waste problem. Furthermore, PSS providers typically offer maintenance and repair services as part of their business model, extending the furniture's lifespan. With access to repair expertise and environmentally friendly methods and materials, PSS companies can provide repairs more efficiently than individual consumers, ensuring that furniture remains in good condition for longer periods.

During the pilot, a life cycle assessment of CoHabit’s system was conducted (Fostvang et al., n.d.).. The aim of this assessment was to investigate the number of reuses needed to reduce overall emissions and the impact of longer transport distances. The assessment is based on quantitative primary and secondary data to evaluate the CoHabit system and three pieces of furniture. The overall assumptions are documented in annex 2.

The functional unit was a bundle of clean, fully functional, neutral-looking furniture consisting of a place to sleep, sit and eat for 100 people during six months in Malmø and Lund. The reference flows needed to fulfill 100 people’s need for the functional unit were calculated for three scenarios based on findings from on-site interviews with Swedish exchange students:

The results illustrate the importance of including user-driven reference scenarios and system boundaries. As presented in figure 15. CoHabit emits less CO₂e than the remaining scenarios. Still, the difference between the baseline and worst-case scenarios is larger than between CoHabit and the baseline scenario. Looking at other impact categories than GHG, CoHabit has higher Ozone Formation emissions than the baseline scenario, primarily due to more transportation (Fosvang et al., n.d.).

Figure 15: Comparison of Cohabit, Baseline and Worst Case. Based on work by Fosvang et al.

CoHabit transport their furniture from one storage unit near Lund in Sweden, where the furniture is cleaned and repaired before being rented out to the next student. As a part of the investigation, the impact of transportation was assessed. As presented in figure 16, the transport distances significantly impact the overall results; as the distance increases, so does the impact of CoHabit. This is due to the products being transported as the only cargo in one truck, and the CoHabit furniture, therefore, accounts for all the emissions, making this one of the largest contributors. When calculating emissions from transportation, these can be accounted for differently. When calculating emissions from the freight of products, the distance is calculated in weight/distance (e.g., kg/km), and the product only accounts for the emissions related to the transportation of the product's weight. But this is only possible if multiple products are transported in the same truck. CoHabit uses its cars and does not use existing freight groupage systems, so it accounts for all the emissions. An important finding is, therefore, that emissions from transportation are significantly larger in some PSS systems, and it is therefore important to investigate possibilities to reduce this, e.g., by groupage or decentralised storage (Fosvang et al., n.d.).

Figure 16: Sensitivity analysis of transportation. Based on work by Fosvang et al.

One of the most compelling environmental benefits of furniture PSS is its potential to reduce end-of-life waste, a persistent challenge in traditional linear models of furniture consumption. In the linear value chain, furniture is believed to account for over 4% of municipal solid waste, and reuse rates in the sector remain low. According to Statistics from the European Federation of Furniture Manufacturers, 80% to 90% of EU furniture waste in municipal solid waste is either incinerated or landfilled, and only 10% is recycled (Forrest et al., 2017). Furniture PSS can break this cycle by extending the lifecycle of products through reuse and refurbishment, thus diverting perfectly usable furniture from the waste stream.

With the expertise that PSS companies bring to the lifecycle management of furniture, they can ensure that when items reach the end of their usable life, they are disposed of properly. This is particularly important given the presence of hazardous chemicals in some furniture, such as fire retardants, adhesives, or heavy metals, which complicates recycling efforts. These chemicals can pose significant environmental and health risks if not handled correctly, and there is a general need for improved information transfer across the value chain (Vanacore et al., 2021). PSS providers can act as intermediaries, ensuring that important data on the materials used, including hazardous substances, is communicated to recycling facilities. This improved information flow can facilitate safer and more efficient recycling processes, contributing to a more sustainable furniture industry.

Moreover, PSS solutions eliminate or minimise the need for disposable packaging, a common issue when purchasing new furniture. With multiple rental or leasing cycles, the same furniture can be transported and installed without new packaging, reducing the vast amount of cardboard, plastic, and other materials typically used in packaging.

By managing both the use and end-of-life phases more sustainably, furniture PSS contributes to the circular economy by maintaining the value of products, ensuring they are kept in use longer, and handling waste in a way that minimises its environmental impact. This represents a shift from the traditional consumption model toward a system that prioritises resource efficiency and responsible waste management.

Furniture PSS models offer socioeconomic benefits by providing access to higher-quality, aesthetically pleasing, and functional furniture without the significant upfront cost associated with ownership. This can be particularly advantageous for individuals or households with limited financial resources, as it allows for more flexible, affordable furnishing options. For instance, companies like Cohabit cater primarily to exchange students, providing an affordable, adaptable solution that fits their short-term needs.

Moreover, furniture PSS businesses like Cohabit foster community engagement and personal connections. Cohabit plays an active role in the exchange students’ experience of moving to Sweden by offering more than just a rental service. The company assists with the transition by recommending other circular business solutions that might interest students and organising social gatherings. These events allow students to meet peers, share experiences and offer valuable feedback to the company on the PSS solution.

One of the key rebound effects in furniture PSS models is related to transportation. Furniture used in these systems typically requires more frequent transportation than purchased furniture due to delivery, returns, and redistribution among multiple users. This increased transportation can diminish some of the environmental benefits associated with PSS, as it contributes to higher emissions, especially over long distances or if inefficient transport modes are used.

In the case with Cohabit, an LCA study of their operations found that transport was the main contribution to the company’s climate impacts, responsible for 65% of the CO₂e in one rental cycle (Fosvang et al., n.d.). This was calculated under the assumption that Cohabit was responsible for 1/8 of the furniture’s climate impact from production, assuming that the furniture will be circulated eight times. The cleaning procedure had an insignificant climate impact compared to emissions from production and transport. As part of the LCA study, the authors also carried out a sensitivity analysis which showed that the distance travelled to transport furniture for customers impacts the CO₂e emissions of Cohabits operations, meaning that scaling of the business to other cities affects the climate impact of the business model. Apart from transport distance, the second most important factor for CO₂e emissions was the number of use cycles that the furniture goes through, which is a well-known pattern in circular business models.

To mitigate these effects, PSS providers must prioritise optimising logistics, such as consolidating deliveries, minimising travel distances, and incorporating low-emission vehicles into their fleets.

Furniture PSS has substantial potential to promote circularity by extending product lifecycles, reducing waste, and offering flexible, accessible furnishing solutions. Barriers, such as cultural preferences for ownership and logistical challenges, remain; however, the model offers significant economic, environmental, and social benefits. It enables access to high-quality furniture without large upfront costs and provides adaptable solutions for specific groups like students and expats. Moreover, the potential for PSS in public procurement (GPP) is promising. As public institutions increasingly adopt circular criteria, PSS models could expand, helping align procurement with sustainability goals, further driving demand for long-lasting, reusable furniture. Addressing logistical challenges and optimising transport will be critical for maximising the environmental benefits.