Work

The circularity paradox in secondhand markets: value retention, allocation, and rebound effects

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Reuse avoids emissions by displacing new production, yet the money it frees can finance new consumption. We link displacement benefits, allocation rules, and re-spending in one framework, applied to listing-level prices from a major Swedish secondhand marketplace. Using projected new-product prices and input-output carbon intensities, we estimate potential avoided emissions, potential increased emissions from re-spending, and the circular rebound effect (CRE). Under zero-burden allocation, CRE depends only on the relative carbon intensity of re-spending. Under economic allocation, higher value retention shrinks calculated avoided emissions while re-spending stays fixed, so CRE rises most for products that hold value best. We term this the circularity paradox: a property of the economic allocation accounting framework, not of reuse itself. The allocation rule changes the calculated result, not the physical emissions. The estimates are illustrative, not measured, impacts. We therefore treat zero-burden as the reference for rebound and economic allocation as an accounting sensitivity.

Source: Resources Conservation and Recycling

DOI: 10.1016/j.resconrec.2026.109077

Author: Rafael Laurenti

Institution: RISE Research Institutes of Sweden

Language: English

Topic: Sustainable Supply Chain Management

Subfield: Strategy and Management

Field: Business, Management and Accounting

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Responsible consumption and production, Climate action

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $5,270