Circular Economy, Recycling & Remanufacturing worked example

Circular Material Savings at 67% usable circular-material substitution share: a worked example

Push usable circular-material substitution share up to 67% and the picture changes. This example computes every intermediate figure at that operating point. a team needs to approve recycled-content sourcing, reuse loops, or material substitution projects for a product line, contract volume, or annual material plan

The inputs for this scenario

  • Virgin material displaced by circular supply: 25,000 kg (unchanged)
  • Avoided virgin material cost: 1.35 $ / kg (unchanged)
  • Usable circular-material substitution share: 67 % (raised for this scenario; the documented default is 58)
  • Fixed qualification, sorting, or blending cost to subtract: 7,200 $ (unchanged)

Working through the calculation

  • Applying the documented formula (Gross avoided virgin material cost = virgin material displaced by circular supply × avoided virgin material cost × usable circular-material substitution share) to the inputs above produces each figure below.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 29,813 net circular material savings for net circular material savings, the number this scenario is built around.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 1.19 $ / piece for savings per kg available.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 22,613 $ for gross avoided virgin material cost.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 7,200 $ for fixed qualification, sorting, or blending cost to subtract.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where usable circular-material substitution share sits at 58% and the headline result is 26,775 net circular material savings, this scenario comes in 11.34% above the baseline at 29,813 net circular material savings.
  • It computes the net savings from displacing virgin material with circular supply by applying the usable substitution share to avoided virgin cost and subtracting qualification cost. The value of this scenario is the size of the gap it exposes: that gap, priced out over a year, is the budget you can justify spending to close it.

Results at a glance

  • Net circular material savings: 29,813 net circular material savings (headline result)
  • Savings per kg available: 1.19 $ / piece
  • Gross avoided virgin material cost: 22,613 $
  • Fixed qualification, sorting, or blending cost to subtract: 7,200 $

Run it with your numbers

  • Every input above is editable in the live Circular Material Savings calculator, which recalculates instantly and can be shared with the inputs intact.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.