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Maintaining a product keeps it in good condition.

Example: a vacuum cleaner is repaired

and cleaned so it keeps performing well.
 By redistributing and reusing a product it is reintroduced after a first use cycle,
to be used again. This may require some maintenance and cleaning.

The used vacuum cleaner is brought to a

second-hand shop and sold to a new user.
 Refurbishment is replacing or repairing parts that are faulty or close to failure.
The aim is to return a product to a good working condition.

The used vacuum cleaner is cleaned and

repaired. Parts that may soon break are
replaced. After testing, the refurbished
vacuum cleaner is sold to a new user.
 During remanufacturing, products are completely disassembled and functioning reusable
parts are rebuilt into a new product. This results in products that are as good as new.

A used vacuum cleaner is stripped to its

core and rebuilt, using new and reused
parts. After testing, it is as good as new.
 Recycling is the process of recovering materials for the same purpose or for
other purposes. The recycled materials can be used for new products.

When the vacuum cleaner is at the end of

its useful life, it is shredded into small
pieces that can be used to produce new
products.
Cascading is reusing bio-based components and materials over and over again, each time in less demanding
applications. Eventually, the degraded material should be able to return to the biosphere safely.

Wood can be used as material for furniture,

then chipboard, then firewood before it is
returned to the biosphere as ash.
Extraction of biochemical feedstock: plants and plant-based materials
that are not used for food or feed, are converted to biofuels.

Plant materials are converted to biofuels

like ethanol, butanol and biodiesel. These
can in turn be converted to bioproducts
(such as chemicals that form the building
blocks of bio-plastics).
Anaerobic digestion is a fermentation process in which microorganisms break down
organic matter, such as food scraps, in the absence of oxygen. This results in biogas.

The by-product of this process can be

used as fertiliser for agriculture or to
make low-grade building products, such
as fibreboards.
During composting, biological nutrients are broken down by microorganisms in natural
or in controlled processes and brought back into the soil as new resources.

Bacteria and fungi (but also insects,

snails, and earthworms), break down
leaves, grass clippings, garden debris and
certain food wastes into CO2, water and a
soil like material called compost.
The biosphere is the global sum of all ecosystems on the planet,
including all life forms and their environment.
In the stage of farming/collection, humans harvest organisms regenerated
in the biosphere, through farming, hunting or fishing.