Irresistible Circular Business
How do you build a successful certified refurb program for major appliances?
In this episode, Samantha Truesdell, Enterprise Circularity and Climate Strategy Manager, and Caio Doranti, Global Sustainability Senior Manager at Whirlpool Corporation, explain how Whirlpool launched a certified refurbishment program for large home appliances, selling returned units direct to consumer through brand websites. The episode is co-hosted by Karel J. Golta, Executive Director at INDEED Innovation.
The conversation looks at how Whirlpool evaluated circular business model opportunities and why certified refurb was selected as one of the first to execute.
What you'll hear in this episode:
• Whirlpool's enterprise circularity framework and the criteria used to evaluate and prioritize circular business models
• How the certified refurb program works, from returned unit inspection and grading to resale through direct-to-consumer channels
• The revenue case for certified refurb and how the direct-to-consumer model affects margin
The episode also covers internal stakeholder alignment, pilot-phase KPIs, and what Whirlpool expects to learn as geographic coverage expands in phase two.
This is the third episode in the series Irresistible Circular Business, sponsored by INDEED Innovation, the Global Design and Innovation Firm pioneering the Circular Economy. The series showcases business practices that deliver irresistible commercial and circular results, with examples from different industries across different R-strategies.
Samantha Truesdell, Enterprise Circularity & Climate Strategy Manager
https://www.linkedin.com/in/samantha-truesdell-08a28156/
Caio Doranti, Global Sustainability Senior Manager at Whirlpool Corporation
https://www.linkedin.com/in/caiodoranti/
Karel J. Golta, Executive Director at INDEED Innovation.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/karelgolta/
Patrick Hypscher, Circular Business Strategist, PaaS Expert
https://www.linkedin.com/in/hypscher/
00:00 Intro quote
00:26 Intro
06:00 Whirlpool's Circularity Ambition
10:24 Developing the Certified Refurbished Program
13:33 Evaluation Criteria for Circular Strategies
15:30 Consumer Adoption of Circular Business Models
18:02 Deep Dive: The Certified Refurbishment Process
25:31 Commercial Benefits and Revenue Potential
28:18 Metrics and Learnings from the Pilot Phase
30:53 Building Internal Support and Partnerships
33:30 Translating Sustainability for Business Stakeholders
38:20 Making Circular Business Irresistible
41:13 Key Takeaways and Overcoming Barriers
47:26 The Broader Impact of Refurbishment
Whirlpool Corporation is a US-based global manufacturer of kitchen and laundry appliances headquartered in Benton Harbor, Michigan. Through brands such as Whirlpool, KitchenAid, JennAir, Maytag, Amana, Brastemp, Consul, and InSinkErator, the company serves households worldwide, reporting around 17–19 billion USD in annual sales and operating tens of manufacturing and technology research centers across the Americas and other regions.
On circularity, Whirlpool is integrating circular-economy principles into product design, use, and end‑of‑life, focusing on durability, repairability, recycled content, and recovery of materials. The company runs certified refurbishment centers that restore a large share of returned appliances for resale, helping extend product lifetimes and keep materials in use, and it complements this with initiatives such as water‑filter mail‑back recycling and take‑back of old appliances and packaging for material recycling instead of landfill.
ReCommerce Playbook: https://www.indeed-innovation.com/the-recommerce-playbook-from-returns-to-revenue/
Whirlpool Corporation Corporate Responsibility Resource Center:
https://cr.whirlpoolcorp.com/
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