A recent briefing from the European Environment Agency reviewed evidence on how circular economy strategies can contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. One of its most useful contributions is not a headline number, but a framework: impact sits across before use, during use and after use. 

For business leaders, this is less about sustainability rhetoric and more about how assets create value over time. Circularity is not just about recycling. It is about how products are designed, how intensively they are used, and what happens to them once their first use cycle ends. Increasingly, these stages are commercially connected.

Before Use: Design Shapes Cost and Performance 

A significant share of a product’s cost base – and environmental footprint – is determined at the design and production stage. Decisions around durability, repairability, modularity and material efficiency directly affect uptime, maintenance costs and replacement frequency. Manufacturers are already responding to supply chain volatility, material constraints and regulatory pressure. Designing products that last longer and can be upgraded rather than replaced is becoming a competitiveness issue. 

Business models influence this. When value is delivered over time rather than captured only at the point of sale, durability and serviceability become commercially relevant. 

During Use: Utilisation Is an Efficiency Question 

The “during use” phase is often overlooked in executive discussions, yet it is where significant operational inefficiency can sit. Across sectors, assets are frequently underutilised, replaced earlier than necessary, maintained inconsistently and disconnected from structured lifecycle planning 

From a management perspective, this represents idle capital and avoidable cost. Usage-based approaches – including rental, product-as-a-service and performance contracts – shift the focus from ownership to outcomes. Instead of asking “Who owns the asset?”, the question becomes “How efficiently is it delivering value?” 

Higher utilisation rates can mean fewer assets are required to deliver the same business output. Extended lifetimes reduce replacement cycles and disruption. Structured maintenance improves reliability and productivity. 

Research reviewed by the European Environment Agency suggests that these shifts can contribute to lower emissions by reducing demand for new production. But even without the climate lens, the commercial logic stands: better utilisation improves capital efficiency and operational resilience. Any emissions benefit is a by-product of improved asset productivity – not a standalone claim.

After Use: Recovery Depends on Earlier Decisions 

Recycling and recovery remain important, but they rarely compensate for inefficient use upstream. End-of-use outcomes can depend on multiple factors such as: 

• Whether condition and usage data were tracked 
• Whether the product was designed for refurbishment or disassembly 
• Whether secondary applications exist 

If assets are deployed within structured frameworks where maintenance and condition are monitored, then refurbishment and redeployment become more viable. For the user, this translates into smoother transitions, less operational disruption and more predictable asset planning. Again, the commercial driver is continuity and efficiency. Environmental gains follow when fewer new products need to be manufactured to replace prematurely discarded ones. 

Connecting the Phases: Why Business Model Matters 

The EEA’s lifecycle framing highlights something practical: the three phases reinforce each other:

• Design affects longevity. 
• Utilisation affects replacement demand. 
• Traceability affects redeployment options. 

Usage-based models operate most directly in the “during use” phase, but they influence the others. When revenue is linked to performance over time, here is greater incentive to support durable design, maintenance becomes structured rather than reactive and asset planning becomes lifecycle-based rather than transaction-based. 

This alignment does not automatically reduce emissions. Outcomes depend on sector characteristics, energy systems and user behaviour. But it does create conditions in which lower material throughput – and therefore lower upstream production emissions – become more likely. For general management, that translates into improved asset productivity, reduced operational downtime and stronger collaboration with suppliers. The climate dimension increasingly sits within these operational choices, rather than outside them. 

A Practical Perspective 

Circular economy discussions can become abstract. The more relevant question for executives is straightforward: How do we extract more value from the assets already in circulation? 

• Extending useful life by two or three years?
• Increasing utilisation across difference customer segments? 
• Designing products that can be upgraded instead of replaced? 

These are operational decisions with financial consequences. The European Environment Agency’s research suggests that when these shifts occur at scale, they can also contribute to emissions reduction. The degree of impact will vary, and it should be measured rather than assumed. 

No single model guarantees outcomes. What matters is whether lifecycle thinking becomes embedded in commercial decision-making. In that sense, the circular economy is less about waste management and more about asset strategy – and for many sectors, that conversation is already moving from sustainability teams into the boardroom. 

(This article was published by Motor Transport on 7 April 2026 and is available in English only.)

As fleet electrification accelerates across Europe, the road haulage sector is entering a new phase. In an article published by Motor Transport, Dr Ouafae Cohin, Global Business Development Manager for Green & Tech Market at BNP Paribas Leasing Solutions, highlights a strong signal: the first electric HGV to cross the English Channel, illustrating the potential of long‑distance electric freight. This momentum is part of a broader context of rapid growth in electric vehicle sales, driven by tightening emissions targets, a widening range of available models, and improvements in total cost of ownership.

The article also points to a major challenge: the growing gap between electric vehicle adoption and the pace of charging infrastructure deployment. The specific needs of the haulage sector, pressure on existing networks, high investment costs and emerging financing models are examined, notably through the rise of “charging‑as‑a‑service” solutions. A must‑read to understand why infrastructure, just as much as vehicles, will be decisive in sustaining the electrification of transport.

Read the full article on the Motor Transport website

[Paris, France –14 April 2026] 

BNP Paribas Leasing Solutions, a leading provider of business equipment finance, has signed an agreement with Carrier, global leader in intelligent climate and energy solutions, to establish a strategic financing agreement across Europe. The agreement sets the foundation for a multi-country financing partnership to support Carrier’s commercial customers with financing solutions. 

Under this agreement, BNP Paribas Leasing Solutions and Carrier will offer finance leases and hire-purchase solutions for commercial HVAC equipment including heat pumps, chillers, boilers and air handling units. The collaboration is designed to enable Carrier’s European affiliates to deliver equipment to end-users with attractive financing options. 

As businesses across Europe face rising energy costs, increasing regulatory pressure and the need to accelerate the transition to more energy-efficient and electrified systems, access to flexible financing is becoming a critical enabler of adoption. 

The partnership extends across major European markets such as Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands and Poland, with the potential to reach additional EU countries in the future.  

A statement from BNP Paribas Leasing Solutions: 
“We are proud to partner with Carrier to make high-quality, energy-efficient equipment more accessible across Europe. This agreement demonstrates how innovative financing can support business growth while contributing to sustainability goals,” said Pascale Favre, Managing Director for BNP Paribas Leasing Solutions’ technology leasing division. 

A statement from Carrier: 
“This agreement enables Carrier to deploy advanced HVAC systems on a lease basis to our customers, accelerating adoption of more energy-efficient technologies across Europe,” said Marc Eckerhall, Executive Director Services & Aftermarket, Climate Solutions Europe, Carrier.  

– END – 

About BNP Paribas Leasing Solutions 
BNP Paribas Leasing Solutions offers capital-efficient business equipment financing solutions in key sectors including agriculture, construction, transportation, materials handling, ICT, healthcare, and green tech. Drawing on its 70-year history, its partners and clients rely on its market expertise, asset know-how, and advisory services to propel their growth, transformation, and transition to a low-carbon circular economy.  

For more information, visit leasingsolutions.bnpparibas.com 

About Carrier 
Founded by the inventor of modern air conditioning, Carrier is a world leader in high-technology heating, air-conditioning, digital platforms and building automation systems. Carrier provides sustainable solutions, integrating energy-efficient products, controls and service for commercial applications, including data centers, healthcare facilities, schools, retail centers, office spaces and more. Carrier is a part of Carrier Global Corporation, global leader in intelligent climate and energy solutions, committed to creating innovations that bring comfort, safety and sustainability to life. For more information, visit www.carrier.com or follow us on LinkedIn.  

Carrier. For the World We Share.  

  

Agriculture and construction are foundational to the real economy. They produce, build and sustain the infrastructure on which communities depend. Their performance is shaped not only by engineering innovation, but by how confidently businesses can invest in that innovation.

Today, the technology exists to make these sectors more efficient and less resource intensive. Smarter machinery, alternative fuels and precision systems are increasingly available. The question is not whether progress is possible – it is how to accelerate adoption in a way that works commercially for customers and strategically for partners.

That is the role of the Joint Venture (JV) between CNH Capital and BNP Paribas Leasing Solutions.

By structuring usage-based financing aligned to operational realities, the JV helps ensure that innovation reaches the field – not just the brochure.

Supporting investment that makes sense

In asset-heavy sectors, equipment decisions are long-term decisions. Operators balance productivity, cost, cash flow and risk. Even when newer models offer meaningful improvements in efficiency or emissions performance, replacement can be delayed if the investment feels disproportionate.

Usage-based models offer a different path.

By aligning payments more closely with how equipment is used, they reduce the burden of large upfront commitments and give operators flexibility to renew fleets at the right moment. Investment becomes progressive rather than disruptive.

For manufacturers and distributors, this creates a more consistent renewal dynamic. Innovation adoption becomes smoother. Relationships extend beyond a single transaction and into lifecycle support.

This is not about shifting ownership for its own sake. It is about structuring access in a way that strengthens long-term performance.

Building healthier equipment ecosystems

Circular progress depends on assets moving productively through more than one life.

The JV integrates lifecycle thinking into financing design. When equipment is renewed under usage-based structures, it does not simply disappear from view. It is redeployed, remarketed, reused – in a managed way.

This creates tangible benefits across the ecosystem:

• Customers gain access to the latest technology without unnecessary delay
• Secondary markets are supported with well-maintained assets
• Partners retain visibility across the lifecycle
• Equipment continues delivering value beyond first use

Rather than stretching ownership to its limits, the focus shifts to maintaining performance and circulation.

Enabling broader operational solutions

Progress in these sectors is not limited to machinery alone.

Through the JV, financing can also support system-level innovations. For example, methane capture and utilisation technologies developed by companies such as Bennamann enable agricultural operators to convert methane emissions into usable fuel. This reduces waste while reinforcing on-site energy resilience.

Such solutions require practical financial structuring to make implementation viable. Usage-based approaches allow cost to align with operational benefit, supporting adoption without creating excessive financial strain.

This is where financing supports operational transformation – not by imposing change, but by enabling it.

Partnership as a long-term enabler

The strength of the JV lies in combining sector expertise with structured financing capability.

CNH Capital brings deep understanding of equipment performance and distribution networks.
BNP Paribas Leasing Solutions contributes funding capacity, structuring experience and multi-market reach. Together, this creates a coordinated model where financing is embedded within industrial strategy.

For partners, it provides a framework that supports innovation rollout and strengthens customer relationships. For customers, it offers access models aligned with how they operate. For the wider economy, it sustains investment in sectors that are essential to growth and employment.

Progress designed to last

Circular progress does not happen through isolated initiatives. It emerges when commercial models encourage better use of assets over time. When financing is structured around usage and lifecycle:

• Equipment is renewed at a pace that reflects operational needs
• Assets remain productive across multiple lives
• More efficient technologies are adopted earlier

In this way, circular progress becomes a natural outcome of sound economic design.

By supporting investment in essential equipment, – and structuring usage around real operational realities – the JV supports the strength of the real economy today, while enabling more efficient and sustainable asset use over the long term.

A social commitment in line with our Employer Brand  

The centre also upholds strong social commitments by integrating inclusive recruitment practices that support people with disabilities, those in reintegration pathways, and seniors, via its Disability Mission. 

Testimonials for Hellowork, such as that of Christophe, an employee recruited through the Disability Mission, highlight the positive impact of these policies: they provide a new professional chance and contribute to the creation of rewarding career paths in technical jobs related to the circular economy. 

One step further towards sustainable models

This new centre perfectly illustrates how practical solutions such as IT refurbishment can support an efficient circular economy, address environmental challenges related to electronic waste, and offer inclusive career paths to our employees. 
 
By combining innovation, sustainability and inclusion, BNP Paribas 3 Step IT and BNP Paribas Leasing Solutions truly help propel the circular economy, in line with our purpose and our vision of a more sustainable and shared world.

Find out more about BNP Paribas 3 Step IT.

* Aprolis Finance is a joint venture owned 51% by BNP Paribas Leasing Solutions and 49% by Aprolis. 

At BNP Paribas Leasing Solutions, our purpose is clear: we are committed to unlocking the circular economy to sustain the world we share.

This purpose reflects an ambition. It recognises both the urgency of environmental challenges and the responsibility of financial services to support more sustainable models of production and consumption. It guides our long-term direction and informs how we work with partners at a time when organisations are rethinking business models to balance performance, resilience and sustainability.

We are not claiming to have “solved” circularity. We are on a journey – working step by step with our partners to make circular practices more mature, more scalable and more impactful over time.

What the Circular Economy Means – and Why It Matters 

The circular economy offers an alternative to the traditional linear model of take, make, use, dispose. Instead, it aims to:

• reduce pressure on natural resources
• extend the useful life of products and components
• keep materials and assets in circulation for longer through reuse, refurbishment, remanufacturing and recycling

This transition is now a priority in Europe, notably through the European Commission’s Circular Economy Action Plan, which encourages longer product lifespans, improved end-of-life management, and the development of usage-based economic models.

Beyond environmental considerations, circularity also represents a significant economic opportunity. According to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, circular business models could unlock trillions of dollars of value globally, while helping rebalance resource consumption with ecosystem regeneration.

For businesses, this means rethinking not only how products are designed and manufactured, but also how they are financed, maintained, used and recovered.

Why Usage Matters More Than Ownership

At BNP Paribas Leasing Solutions, we see use rather than ownership as a practical lever for advancing circularity.

When assets are financed through usage-based models such as leasing or rental, responsibility for performance and value is shared across the lifecycle. This creates incentives to manage equipment more actively and sustainably.

In practice, usage models can help to:

• optimise asset utilisation through monitoring, servicing and structured maintenance programmes
• extend lifecycles by enabling repair, refurbishment and component replacement rather than premature disposal
• improve end-of-use outcomes by facilitating asset recovery for reuse or recycling

Crucially, usage models make it easier to keep assets within professional management frameworks, where their condition, performance and residual value can be actively managed over time.

Our Commitment in Action

Bringing our purpose to life means working collaboratively across the value chain.

Today, our focus is on:

• supporting partners in developing usage-based commercial offers
• integrating financing into asset lifecycle strategies
• helping to develop secondary markets and asset recovery processes

We recognise that progress depends on collective action. Circularity cannot be delivered by finance alone. It requires alignment between manufacturers, service providers, users, recyclers and policymakers. Our role is to help connect these stakeholders and remove financial barriers to more sustainable practices.

A Journey Towards a Sustainable and Shared Future

At BNP Paribas Leasing Solutions, we do more than finance equipment. We support businesses in moving towards more sustainable patterns of consumption – where value is created through performance and longevity, not volume and disposability.

We are still building capabilities. Many circular models remain at an early stage. Measurement frameworks, infrastructure and market maturity continue to evolve. There is more to do.

But by focusing on usage, partnerships and lifecycle management, we are laying practical foundations for progress.

Our purpose reflects this long-term commitment: to unlock the circular economy to sustain the world we share – step by step, together with our partners and clients.