LinLoop – Circular Economy

Buildings are used for many decades, while requirements for space, technology and design often change over time. Refurbishment, renovation and deconstruction can therefore generate large quantities of construction and demolition waste. This is where Lindner comes in: as a provider of durable, modular and demountable system products for interior fit-out, Lindner creates the conditions for keeping materials in circulation for as long as possible. Products and materials should be repaired, reused or refurbished before being recycled.

For clients, planners and users, this means resources can be used more efficiently, waste volumes during refurbishment and renovation can be reduced, and existing value within buildings can be preserved. Modular and demountable system products can be adapted to changing spatial concepts, professionally dismantled and, depending on their condition and intended application, reused or refurbished.

With its circular business models LinLoop, Lindner supports this development with practical solutions for interior fit-out, ranging from flexible rental and return models to the inspection, dismantling and refurbishment of used system products.

Everything from a single source
Lindner brings together the entire process for interior fit-out and building envelopes within one company, from development and production through installation and maintenance to dismantling, refurbishment and reinstallation.

In-house manufacturing, in-house responsibility
By controlling the entire production process, Lindner can consider material quality, demountability and refurbishment from the earliest product design stage.

Proven take-back processes
Since 2021, Lindner has been taking back system products and has already refurbished more than 100,000 m² of raised access floors. (As of August 2026)

Digital transparency
We support construction projects with state-of-the-art digital tools such as BIM (Building Information Modelling), 3D laser scanning and innovative project management software for seamless digital documentation. This data provides a reliable basis for integration into global online material and product databases such as Madaster, as well as for creating digital product passports, calculating carbon footprints and providing ESG evidence.

Legal requirements relating to resource conservation, waste prevention and the circular use of construction products are continuously increasing in Germany and across Europe. The circular economy is therefore becoming an increasingly important part of future-oriented construction planning.

At European level, the EU Waste Framework Directive establishes the basic waste hierarchy: waste should primarily be prevented, followed by preparation for reuse, recycling and, only as a last resort, other forms of recovery or disposal. The European Green Deal and the Circular Economy Action Plan reinforce this approach, particularly in resource-intensive sectors such as construction.

The revised EU Construction Products Regulation also places greater emphasis on the environmental impact of construction products. In future, information on environmental impacts, product service life, repairability, reusability and recyclability will become increasingly important. In addition, the revised EU Energy Performance of Buildings Directive calls on Member States to promote life-cycle assessments of buildings and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.

In Germany, the Circular Economy Act (KrWG) provides the existing legal framework, although its focus is on waste. It establishes the waste hierarchy and requires waste to be prevented as a priority, while promoting preparation for reuse and recycling. For construction and demolition waste, the Commercial Waste Ordinance specifies requirements for the separate collection and recovery of certain material streams. The Substitute Building Materials Ordinance also supports the use of mineral substitute building materials subject to clearly defined quality and environmental requirements.

In addition to statutory requirements, the R-strategies developed by DIN e. V. are increasingly structuring the practical implementation of the circular economy in construction. The ten stages, ranging from ReFuse, ReThink and ReDuce through to ReUse, ReFurbish and ReCycle, provide guidance for resource-efficient processes and business models. As of summer 2026, DIN e. V. is working towards developing these strategies into a more binding standard for the circular economy, intended to further support their systematic application across the construction industry.

In practice, this means that demountability, material separation, take-back options and traceable product documentation should already be considered during the development and planning stages. Digital material passports, Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) and BIM-based asset documentation can help make material cycles transparent and manageable throughout the entire building life cycle. This is an area in which Lindner is already active with its own digital solutions and networks such as Madaster and Concular.

Whether products remain in use for longer through flexible business models or enter a new usage cycle following dismantling, LinLoop offers solutions for different stages of the product life cycle.

Circular business models

With LinLoop, we offer rental and return options for reversible interior fit-out products. This allows raised access floors, ceiling systems and partition systems to be used flexibly and returned to the circular economy at the end of the agreed period of use.

Product take-back and refurbishment

We take back suitable used system products, assess their condition and refurbish them for further use. This creates an alternative to disposal and can reduce material consumption and project-related emissions.