Volker Hoentsch, ESG Director at TBAuctions, parent company of Troostwijk Auctions and the Belgian VavatoToday, climate policy is still largely focused on which new purchases companies need to make: an electrified fleet, renewable energy systems, more efficient equipment, or smarter factories. But due to rising procurement costs, longer lead times, and supply chain pressures, Dutch and Belgian businesses are already struggling to secure scarce materials.
An often overlooked, highly practical way to help the climate lies earlier in the decision-making process: extending the lifespan of a usable asset by choosing reuse over new equipment. For companies looking to reduce waste, costs, and emissions across the supply chain, keeping existing assets in use longer is more than just circular—it is climate-driven.
Technical lifespan
Industrial assets frequently leave a company long before reaching the end of their technical lifespan. When they are resold rather than stored, scrapped, or replaced, the embedded materials, energy, and production impact remain in circulation longer. In 2025, nearly 600,000 assets were given a second life via Troostwijk Auctions, an online auction platform for industrial assets and part of the European group of digital auction brands, TBAuctions. By curbing the demand for newly manufactured alternatives, these recorded second-hand purchases helped avoid an estimated 510,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions.
These figures demonstrate that circularity only gains real significance when reuse is structured, sector-wide, and scaled. In 2025, Troostwijk Auctions facilitated reuse across multiple major industrial categories, including Construction (99,427 lots sold), Transport & Logistics (83,364), and Metalworking (43,252). This breadth is critical: avoided emissions depend not only on transaction volume, but primarily on the type of assets kept in use and the new manufacturing they displace.
Reuse higher on the corporate agenda
Reuse is gaining traction as sustainability targets, tighter regulations, and cost control increasingly align. Circular procurement enables companies to prepare for stricter ESG requirements, reduce capital expenditure, and make better use of raw materials already in circulation. Digital auctions play a practical role here: they offer surplus assets a clear pathway to a new operator, accompanied by transparent pricing, standardized processes, and reach to buyers well outside a company's immediate network.
Climate gains from reuse?
How can companies extract more value from the assets they already own? The first step is integrating reuse into climate policies right from the start. Resale is too often considered only after equipment is already viewed as waste. That sequence needs to be reversed. If a machine, vehicle, or tool can viably serve a second life, resale must take precedence over recycling or disposal. Recycling remains vital, but reuse retains far more of the materials, energy, and emissions already embedded within an asset.
"Resale belongs in the climate strategy, well ahead of recycling or disposal."
— Volker Hoentsch, ESG Director at TBAuctions, parent company of Troostwijk Auctions and Vavato.
The second step is measuring and optimizing the infrastructure surrounding reuse. Companies require clearer insights into the emissions avoided by extending asset lifespans, enabling them to position resale as an integral component of a broader climate strategy rather than a mere cost-saving measure. At the same time, indirect emissions from logistics and transport demand ongoing attention. Clean logistics, improved asset throughput, and fleet electrification make industrial reuse even more effective as a climate intervention.
Value that keeps circulating
The circular economy is shaped by everyday corporate decisions: what companies keep running, what they replace, and what they do with assets they no longer need. Reuse offers a pragmatic path to curb waste, relieve pressure on raw materials, and avoid the emissions tied to new manufacturing. While data and technology can amplify that impact, the underlying principle remains straightforward: value is not defined solely by what an asset fetches upon resale, but by what is preserved when that asset continues to do its job.
Troostwijk Auctions believes that everything has value and is driven to make digital auctioning the best way to add value for business sellers and buyers. The digital auction platform optimally connects local, convenient and fast sales with global demand. They do this by combining the power of their people, technology and data. This is how Troostwijk Auctions builds a profitable business, rewards their people and extends the life of goods to reduce waste and emissions.
Each year, Troostwijk Auctions auctions more than 1 million lots for companies in sectors such as agriculture, food, metal, construction, earthmoving and transportation & logistics. The company has an average of 4 million visits to the platform per month, local sector specialists throughout Europe and buyers in 175 countries.
For more information about Troostwijk Auctions: https://www.troostwijkauctions.com/
