  Citation: Vargas, J.P.; Muñoz Lagos, A.P.; Feriz Torres, J.G.; Kinney,I.S.; Pérez Cortés, S.; Hurtado, J.P. Achieving Circularity through Novel Product-Service Systems in the Mining Industry: An Opportunity for Circularity. Sustainability 2022, 14, 3614. https://doi.org/10.3390/ su14063614 Academic Editor: Claudio Sassanelli Received: 14 February 2022 Accepted: 16 March 2022 Published: 19 March 2022 Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affil- iations. Copyright: © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). sustainability Article Achieving Circularity through Novel Product-Service Systems in the Mining Industry: An Opportunity for Circularity Juan Pablo Vargas 1, * , Angélica Patricia Muñoz Lagos 1 , José Guillermo Feriz Torres 1 , Ian Scott Kinney 2 , SebastiánPérez Cortés 1 and Juan Pablo Hurtado 1 1 Mining Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, University of Santiago of Chile (USACH), Avenida Libertador Bernardo O’Higgins 3363, Estación Central, Santiago 9160000, Chile; patricia.munoz.l@usach.cl (A.P.M.L.); jose.feriz@usach.cl (J.G.F.T.);sebastian.perez@usach.cl (S.P.C.); juan.hurtado@usach.cl (J.P.H.) 2 Independent Researcher, Barros Arana 492, Concepción 4030000, Chile; ian.scott.kinney@gmail.com * Correspondence: juan.vargas@usach.cl; Tel.: +56-(98)-6627536 Abstract: The evolution toward sustainable mining can be achieved by implementing circular economies (CEs), and one way forward is via product-service systems (PSSs). However, apply- ing PSSs in the mining industry is an area with little extant research. We seek to contribute to CE and sustainability research by proposing a model by which mining companies can achieve circularity through their suppliers: something which has not yet been explored. First, we present a critical literature review of published papers about the barriers and benefits in industries where serviti- zation or PSS has been applied. We discuss barriers impeding PSS implementation in the mining industry, along with related concepts including CE and PSSs in digital technologies. With this study we hope to draw more discussion to the topic of PSSs in the mining industry and provide useful guidelines to academics and industry professionals for PSS implementation in mining: an important step toward circularity. Keywords: circular economy; mining industry; product-service systems; servitization; sustainability 1. Introduction Modern civilization consumes more than what the planet can regenerate, surpass- ing the mark for 2021 on 29 July. In other words, during 2021 humanity consumed the equivalent of 1.75 years of resources from planet Earth [1]. Pearce and Turner [2] introduced the concept of circular economics in modern eco- nomic studies. These environmental economists declared that to maintain the sustainability of human life on Earth, a closed system is necessary. In other words, we need a system with no major interchanges with the external environment, following the first two laws of thermodynamics. It is necessary to abandon the current linear model of take-make-throw away and move toward a circular resource management model. Circular economics (CE) is defined as an industrial economy that is restorative or regenerative by design and on purpose [3]. Modern corporations are offering more and more combinations of products, services, support, self-service and knowledge. Services are beginning to predominate, though, in a movement which was termed “business servitization” in 1988. Servitization is defined as the process of creating value by adding services to products [4]. Goedkoop et al. [5] define a product-service system (PSS) as a marketable set of products and services that together can satisfy customers’ demands. According to the Dutch PSS policy document, PSSs are recognized for offering favorable perspectives for sustainable mid- and long-term economic growth [5]. The concepts of PSS and servitization are closely related, with the difference being that the latter is a concept closely tied to debates about sustainability and Sustainability 2022, 14, 3614. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14063614 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability