From waste to worth: An explorative typology of service- and product-oriented business models for urban biowaste valorization

Maxime Sebbane (), Sandrine Costa (), Mechthild Donner () and Christian Duquennoi ()
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Maxime Sebbane: UMR MoISA - Montpellier Interdisciplinary center on Sustainable Agri-food systems (Social and nutritional sciences) - Cirad - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement - IRD - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement - CIHEAM-IAMM - Centre International de Hautes Etudes Agronomiques Méditerranéennes - Institut Agronomique Méditerranéen de Montpellier - CIHEAM - Centre International de Hautes Études Agronomiques Méditerranéennes - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - Institut Agro Montpellier - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement
Sandrine Costa: UMR MoISA - Montpellier Interdisciplinary center on Sustainable Agri-food systems (Social and nutritional sciences) - Cirad - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement - IRD - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement - CIHEAM-IAMM - Centre International de Hautes Etudes Agronomiques Méditerranéennes - Institut Agronomique Méditerranéen de Montpellier - CIHEAM - Centre International de Hautes Études Agronomiques Méditerranéennes - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - Institut Agro Montpellier - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement
Christian Duquennoi: UR PROSE - Procédés biotechnologiques au service de l'environnement - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement

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Abstract: Urban biowaste valorization is a promising pathway for the circular bioeconomy, yet the business models supporting it remain fragile and poorly understood. Research has mainly emphasized product-oriented biomass valorization, while service-based models have received less attention. This paper examines how urban biowaste is integrated into value creation, delivery and capture mechanisms, and whether the product/service distinction captures their diversity. Based on an exploratory qualitative study of ten French initiatives, it identifies three business model families (product-oriented, service-oriented and hybrid) and seven types: value-added product transformation; biowaste trading; product valorization supporting a social mission; core paid waste-management services; ancillary biowaste services; community and non-profit waste services; and integrated product-service approaches. Product-oriented models mainly capture value through marketable outputs, service-oriented models through collection, logistics, regulatory compliance and stakeholder support, and hybrid models through both mechanisms. Across these families, biowaste also creates relational and marketing value through customer engagement and CSR narratives, and social and territorial value through inclusion, education, community building and local resource loops. Environmental value cuts across these mechanisms through waste diversion, resource substitution and reintegration into material, energy or agronomic cycles. The study shows that the product/service distinction is useful but insufficient and contributes a multidimensional typology. It also complements the biomass value pyramid with a business model perspective accounting for product, service, relational, marketing, social and territorial forms of value.

Keywords: Urban biowaste; Circular Economy; Business Model; s Service-Oriented; Product-Oriented; Value Creation; Bioeconomy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-10
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-05744014v1
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Published in Environmental Science & Policy, 2026, 184, pp.104483. ⟨10.1016/j.envsci.2026.104483⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05744014

DOI: 10.1016/j.envsci.2026.104483

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