(Re)Use it or not: Operational disposition decisions depending on product and organization type

The efficiency of the circular economy depends on how used products remain in the cycle. For each used product, a specific recovery strategy must be selected through operational disposition decisions. Despite their significance, little is known about how organizations make these decisions. Existing research emphasizes strategic-tactical perspectives and focuses on electronics. This study explores how reuse organizations make operational disposition decisions using a mixed-methods design, incorporating semi-structured interviews and survey data. We address key gaps by (1) analyzing the operational dimension of disposition, (2) including multiple product types, and (3) comparing for-profit and non-profit organizations. Our analysis identifies 14 decision factors, with three consistently important across product types: the amount and type of defects, used materials and processing quality, and demand. Notably, we observe significant differences across product and organizational types. Our findings enhance understanding of operational decision-making, inform decision-support tools, and contribute to more efficient resource utilization. • The efficiency of the circular economy depends on how products remain in the cycle. • We explore operational disposition decisions including employees’ perspectives. • We identified 14 disposition factors for the operational disposition decision. • Differences occur between product types, decision-making needs to consider these. • We found significant differences between for-profit and non-profit organizations.