Circular Economy in Industrial Design Research: A Review

Abstract

In the past decades, industrial design practice and research have focused extensively on how to optimize production and consumption, as a way to prevent negative environmental impacts, such as resource depletion, pollution, and excessive waste. Recently, the “circular economy” concept is increasingly used to achieve environmental benefits and economic growth simultaneously. Industrial design can contribute to a circular economy by fostering systems changes to achieve durability, optimal reuse, refurbishment, remanufacturing, and recycling of products and materials. Indeed, researchers have examined both the theoretical and practical aspects of how design knowledge can support the transition to a circular economy. However, this body of knowledge has not been systematically analyzed yet. To address this critical gap, this paper poses the following question: How has industrial design research so far contributed to advancing the circular economy knowledge? Accordingly, we survey relevant design literature focusing on the circular economy, through a review of contributions published in 42 scientific journals. Based on our results, we discuss how industrial design practices can potentially contribute to a circular economy across four thematic areas: (1) design for circular production processes, (2) design for circular consumption, (3) design to support policy towards the circular economy, and (4) design education for the circular economy.

The circular economy and the Green Jobs creation

“…The CE concept identifies new opportunities for the simultaneous achievement of environmental benefits and economic growth (Hopkinson et al 2018;Durán-Romero et al 2020;van Dam et al 2020). The idea of CE was based on the observation of natural ecosystems, which are not linear (only energy flows), but resources (materials) circulate (Korhonen et al 2018;Ilić et al 2020).…”

The Circular Economy and The Green Jobs Creation

“…The CE concept identi es new opportunities for the simultaneous achievement of environmental bene ts and economic growth (Hopkinson et al 2018;Durán-Romero et al 2020;van Dam et al 2020). The idea of CE was based on the observation of natural ecosystems, which are not linear (only energy ows), but resources (materials) circulate (Korhonen et al 2018;Ilić et al 2020).…”

Design, Materials, and Extrusion-Based Additive Manufacturing in Circular Economy Contexts: From Waste to New Products

“…In this emerging context, the circular economy can generate closed loops of material and energy flows conventionally involved in linear models [3,4]. Contrarily to the linear take-make-waste model, a circular economy aims to preserve the economic and environmental value of these flows thanks to different strategies, i.e., the reuse of products, components, and materials, or their remanufacturing, refurbishment, and repair [5][6][7]. In more detail, these hierarchical strategies are known as "R-imperatives", and their conceptualization is still a debated issue in the academic field.…”

“…Within this framework, designers play a crucial role in the implementation and development of these approaches. Therefore, a new set of interdisciplinary skills is required to foster this transition and build a methodology for circular design [7,[10][11][12]. As a matter of fact, the early stages of design strongly influence the impacts of a product during its life cycle, and designers should be not only aware of it but also properly trained [13,14].…”