Circular Technology Roadmapping (TRM): Fostering Sustainable Material Development

Abstract

To design more sustainable products often means improving the sustainability of materials. Currently, sustainable innovation calls upon materials to not only minimize environmental impacts but also to become circular. That requires efforts to keep materials functional for longer, avoid early disposal, and re-entering the cycle via recycling and other feedback processes. Those emerging challenges for materials development and the Circular Economy (CE) are especially critical in the case of polymers. How to develop strategies to preserve the value of polymers remains a question that mobilizes both researchers and practitioners. Technology Roadmapping (TRM) is a tool traditionally used for planning innovation processes and has supported the development of sustainable materials and other sustainability-related projects. This study tests TRM’s potential to assist with the planning of new circular polymers solutions and proposes the Circular TRM method. This proposition results from the case study of the development of waste-based fiber-polymer materials and strategies for getting them into the market. Our case study demonstrates how it would be possible to differentiate the various polymer material technologies and determine the most circular strategy path.

Strategic Organizational Sustainability in the Age of Sustainable Development Goals

“…The productivity of a company never depends only on its efficiency, as it is also continuously related to its strategic positioning. Productivity defines how a chain of coordinated processes can be maintained that allows profit to be made and that protects the business from destructive competition [70,71].…”

Degradation of Polypropylene and Jute Fiber-Reinforced Composites Exposed to Natural and Accelerated Aging: Mechanical Properties and Wettability

“…For this purpose, researchers have used nano-calcium carbonate as a mineral filler, in addition to the natural jute fiber reinforcement, and a compatibilizer for improving fiber-matrix interactions [16]. Afterward, another study concentrated on investigating strategies for getting this durable composite material into the market [17]-street furniture was among the highest-rated for the application of the developed material. Therefore, it would be of great interest to carry out degradation tests on these materials to know their behavior under weathering.…”