When circularity is good for business – both for people, planet and profit

Are you familiar with the concept of ‘product-as-a-service’? In short, it is a business model where instead of selling a physical product outright, companies offer it as a subscription, rental or on a pay-per-use basis, often including maintenance and upgrades. This approach emphasizes access and utility over ownership, providing customers with more flexibility and potentially lower upfront costs.

In other words: The ‘product-as-a-service’ model extends product lifetime, minimizes resource consumption, and promotes circularity through maintaining, reusing, and recycling.

Hiring instead of buying

Mouritsen’s partnership with Semco Maritime is based on this model for equipment sharing, and it thus contributes to both Semco Maritime’s and Mouritsen’s joint ambition of creating a more sustainable supply chain.

Mouritsen is hiring equipment for Semco Maritime, primarily for offshore installations within the conventional energy industry. The equipment includes vacuum pumps and pressure calibrators; equipment that is not needed permanently but in specific phases of Semco Maritime's projects.

This way, Semco is guaranteed the right equipment at the right time – without having to invest in expensive, new equipment and subsequently storing, maintaining and servicing it.

At the same time, Mouritsen ensures that the equipment fits the task, and has the documentation needed to uphold safety standards. As part of the deal, Semco Maritime has a 24/7 service phone available for the users of the equipment together with Quick Guide introductions.

A sustainable model for all

“ The partnership with Semco Maritime serves as a testament to the potential in ‘product-as-a-service’ as a sustainable business model. A sustainable model for not just us as a company, but also for people and planet as a whole, ” says Claus Andersen, CEO of Mouritsen A/S.

By entrusting Mouritsen as the expert to oversee equipment maintenance, governance and training, Semco Maritime benefits from reduced downtime, efficient usage, and compliance with regulatory standards.

‘We have only scratched the surface’

‘Product-as-a-service’ is becoming increasingly relevant, as the European Commission adopted the Circular Economy Action Plan in March 2020. Part of this plan is to create incentives for the “product-as-a-service” business model.

Additionally, the EU's taxonomy - the EU's classification system for sustainable activities, which entered into force in January 2022, and which sets out a number of conditions and criteria for when an economic activity is environmentally sustainable - and the upcoming requirements related to ESG reporting will most likely also contribute to spotlighting new and more sustainable business models.

One of them could very well be ‘product-as-a-service’. Not the least because studies show that a rented machine in general has a much lower CO2 footprint throughout its lifecycle than a bought machine.

“We have only just begun to scratch the surface, when it comes to new and still immature business models such as 'product-as-a-service. For these models to gain ground in the industry, we need partnerships across the value chain, and therefore it has been a great pleasure to work alongside Semco Maritime on this project,” concludes Claus Andersen.

Read more about our products within Offshore Energy here .