John Doughty is senior vice president of global partnerships at Alchemy, a global circular technology company. Doughty has over 30 years of experience in the mobile and technology services industries and leads Alchemy’s strategic partnerships across 60 markets. Views are the author’s own.
The secondary technology market is on course to hit $262 billion by 2032, according to market research, and the businesses gaining ground are proving that ESG goals and profitability can advance together.
Corporate sustainability reports routinely highlight recycled packaging, responsibly sourced materials and carbon offsets. What's far harder to find is a coherent answer to a more fundamental question of what happens to technology products when they reach end-of-life? Trade-in infrastructure, product take-back and circular procurement remain conspicuously absent from most corporate agendas, tucked away in footnotes if they appear at all.
The sheer volume of consumer electronics in circulation today — an estimated 8 billion as of 2026 — makes the missed opportunity hard to ignore.
Smartphones, tablets, laptops and wearables all share something in common. They're built from finite resources – rare minerals and materials that don't come cheap and don't replenish easily. Every single one of those devices will eventually reach the end of its useful life.
For retailers, manufacturers and telecommunications companies that are still approaching circularity as a reporting obligation rather than a strategic priority, the gap between where they are and where the opportunity sits is only widening.
From sustainability initiative to commercial strategy
For a long time, the circular economy conversation was dominated by ESG language, including obligations, targets and reporting. That framing, while not wrong, underestimates the opportunity.
Circular technology can generate new revenue and strengthen customer retention, all while making retail and telecommunications businesses more resilient. The secondary market has moved from the fringes of the tech economy to a central part of it, and those paying attention are starting to see real returns.
The commercial logic isn't complicated. Trade-in programs lower the effective cost of new devices without requiring brands to discount their way to a sale.
When a customer can offset the price of an upgrade by trading in what they already own, premium products become more accessible to a wider audience. The brand protects its positioning, the customer gets genuine value, and the transaction that might not have happened otherwise, does.
Reaching beyond the existing customer base
Apart from stimulating sales among existing customers, circular models open doors to segments that linear retail often fails to reach. Consumers who would previously have looked elsewhere for a cost-effective alternative can access trusted brands through certified refurbished or secondary market channels.
There's a loyalty dimension here too. A competitive trade-in offer is enough to bring 84% of U.S. shoppers back to the same retailer for their next purchase, according to recent research from Alchemy. For many brands, trade-in programs have become a primary acquisition tool — a way to draw new customers into their ecosystem.
The environmental dimension doesn't compete with any of this. It amplifies it. Sustainability is now a factor in purchasing decisions for a growing proportion of consumers, according to PwC’s 2024 Voice of the Consumer Survey. Brands that can point to real, tangible circular practices earn a kind of trust that's difficult to manufacture any other way.
Infrastructure is where the opportunity is won or lost
Recognizing the commercial case is one thing, but capturing it requires the right foundations. Circular technology only works at scale when collection, grading, refurbishment, inventory and resale are connected into a single, efficient operation. Quality and consistency must be maintained at every stage, or the economics unravel quickly.
This is precisely where retailers can find themselves at a disadvantage, with Boston Consulting Group noting that “retailers commonly find that their systems cannot handle the increased complexity of circular models.” Businesses aren’t typically built for the secondary market. Setting up grading facilities, refurbishment operations and resale logistics from a standing start is a significant operational and financial undertaking. Working with specialists who already have those systems in place allows companies to access circular revenue streams without diverting resources away from their core business.
Market intelligence is equally important. Knowing what refurbished stock is worth, how demand shifts across categories and how to price trade-in offers competitively can be the difference between leading the market and constantly reacting to it. The businesses that build or access this kind of insight get ahead of pricing shifts; the ones that don't are perpetually playing catch-up.
