Contractual Rights and Liabilities in Circular Business Models: A Study of Consumer Protection in Product-as-a-service Contracts

The ‘servitisation’ of the economy - a shift from buying products to using ‘products-as-service’ - is a potential enabler of the shift from the linear to the circular economy. Although such ‘product-service systems’ (‘PSS’) have huge potential, including in economic terms, consumers often feel uncertain and hesitant to engage in new circular business models and product-as-a-service contracts given the lack of a clear regulatory framework.

This book first sets out a conceptual framework of three main types of product-as-a-service contracts (product-oriented, use-oriented, result-oriented PSS) based on real-life examples. Second, it identifies and analyses the relevant EU regulations as well as the national (BE, NL) contract laws applicable to these contracts. Third, it evaluates the current regulatory framework of product-as-a-service contracts in order to identify its strengths and weaknesses. Fourth, legal solutions are proposed to tackle the identified weaknesses and to promote balanced, truly sustainable product-as-a-service contracts. These include, amongst others, (i) detailed proposals for the modernisation of Belgian contract law, (ii) broader policy recommendations, such as to adopt an EU directive on the quality and conformity of (bundles of) services, and (iii) a detailed proposal of a set of balanced model clauses for product-as-a-service contracts that can serve as a source of inspiration for legal professionals and businesses.