Leasing: A Step Toward Producer Responsibility

December 2000

Bette Fishbein (INFORM), Lorraine S. McGarry (Duke University, Nicholas School of the Environment), and Patricia S. Dillon (Tufts University, The Gordon Institute), (2000, 75 pp.,), ISBN 0-918780-77-2

This report examines the practice of leasing products, rather than selling them, as a strategy for increasing resource productivity, particularly by preventing waste generation and encouraging a closed-loop pattern of materials use through reuse, remanufacturing, and recycling. Explores the ways in which leasing and servicizing (selling the function of a product rather than the product itself) can affect product ownership, management at end of life, and product design for a variety of companies and products. Includes case studies focusing on office equipment, carpeting, cleaning equipment, and personal computers.

Download Report