Can circularity truly reduce environmental impact?
Circularity can truly reduce environmental impact because one tool can create value far beyond its first life.Yes, because one tool can create value far beyond its first life.
Reconditioning extends the useful life of cutting tools and reduces the need for virgin raw materials, while recycling helps recover valuable materials at the end of a tool's life.
Life Cycle Assessment data shows that these approaches can significantly reduce the environmental footprint compared with producing a new tool from raw materials. The key takeaway is simple: circularity delivers measurable benefits when decisions are guided by data and supported by effective processes.
From research question to industrial relevance
Circular manufacturing is often seen as an obvious step toward lower environmental impact. But in industrial reality, the answer depends on data, operational conditions and the full lifecycle of the product. That is why collaboration between industry and academia plays an important role: it helps transform complex production systems into transparent models that can be measured, tested and improved.
As part of her MSc thesis, Elisa Margherita Ballin studied the environmental impact of reconditioning and Tool-as-a-Service in the machining sector using a cradle-to-grave Life Cycle Assessment. The study focused on a coated solid end mill and compared conventional replacement with circular configurations based on additional reconditioning cycles.
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What the study found
The research showed that reconditioning can significantly reduce environmental impacts compared with producing a new tool.
The main reason is that successful reconditioning preserves the original tool body and extends functional life, avoiding the need to extract, process and manufacture new high-value materials such as tungsten and cobalt.
Key results
- Reconditioning cycles reduced environmental impacts by approximately 50–75% across some assessed categories.
- The strongest benefit came from avoiding new tool production and preserving the value already embedded in the tool body.
- Return timing and life cycle control matter: tools must come back within the right wear window to be successfully reconditioned — enabling more reconditioning cycles and unlocking greater environmental savings.
- Circularity is a framework, not automatically the environmental outcome; it must be measured to be proven preferable.
Why this matters for production leaders
For production managers, the findings point to practical actions. Extending tool life before recycling can help reduce the need for new material production. Improving return management can increase the chance that tools come back in a condition suitable for reconditioning.
Monitoring the energy mix used in reconditioning is also important, because energy intensity can influence the overall environmental outcome.
From circular ambition to measurable impact
| Production implication | Why it matters |
1 - Measure first
| Use life cycle data to understand material flows, energy use, emissions and return rates before making circular initiatives operational. |
2 - Extend tool life
| Prioritize repair and reconditioning before end-of-life recycling when the technical function can be preserved. |
| 3 - Control return flows | Keep return timing, inspection and sorting under control so tools are recovered before reconditioning potential is lost. |
4 - Improve energy performance
| Improve the energy performance of reconditioning operations because energy source and intensity can affect the final outcome |
| 5 - Scale business value | Scale circular models where life cycle data, production feasibility and economic value point in the same direction. |
Conclusion
In the end, the study reinforces an important point for manufacturing: circularity is not valuable simply because a product is reused, reconditioned or recycled.
It becomes valuable when each step is supported by reliable life cycle data, effective return flows and clear operational decisions. By extending tool life through reconditioning and recovering materials through recycling, production leaders can reduce environmental impact, protect valuable resources and create a more resilient tooling strategy. The opportunity is clear: when circular thinking is measured and managed, it can become a practical lever for both sustainability and business performance.
“Real industrial sustainability starts with measuring, quantifying and understanding material and energy flows across the system.”
Elisa Margherita Ballin
