In the Loop – Sustainable, Circular Product Design and Critical Materials

Abstract

Globally there is increasing concern about a range of materials which have been termed critical materials. This paper defines critical materials as single elements, which are metals, at risk of supply constraints, financially costly, price volatile, deemed economically important and difficult to substitute as a result of their special or unique properties. These metals are used in engineering, technology applications, and product designs. They are widely used and of high value in the field of Automation Technologies. Previous studies have shown that awareness and understanding about critical materials in companies is low. This paper outlines a novel approach to address the company gap in knowledge through the development and testing of a specially developed serious game called ‘In the Loop: The Critical Raw Materials Game.’ Developed from prior research, company case studies, and literature, the game serves as a catalyst for informed discussion about the topic of critical materials. The results of the testing demonstrate the applicability of the approach to the automation technology field and present a roadmap going forwards.

A Metric for Quantifying Product‐Level Circularity

“…However, this particular approach is unlikely to be robust against the following challenges: The relative scarcity of materials often changes as more material becomes accessible, or if substitutes reduce the need for the material in question; There is no consensus on scarcity—different sets of practitioners demonstrate different levels of awareness regarding critical materials (Peck et al. ; Whalen and Peck ); New materials are continually invented and introduced; and At the component level, there are simply too many variations to tabulate and provide relative weights for. This is especially true for complex products where new components are created continually. …”

Social Awareness of the Circular Economy as an Integral Part of Sustainable Development. Observations from Poland

“…One such method is the board game -"In the loop", which aims to raise awareness among players about the benefits of the circular economy [58]. The game is based on twelve elements from the list of -critical raw materials of the European Commission [59].…”

Sustainability awareness in engineering design through serious gaming

“…Several examples of practitioners’ gaming focused on sustainability issues can be found in the business and management domain (e.g., Carreira et al 2017). More implementations target the field of policy-making (e.g., Schrier 2015), circular economy (e.g., Whalen & Peck 2014), energy transformation and management (e.g., Cohen, Niemeyer & Callaway 2016) and sustainable manufacturing (e.g., Stahl et al 2012).…”

“…The final game prototype resembles a classic board game that mixes the basic mechanics from traditional games – such as Game of the Goose and Monopoly® – which are often used as an inspiration to design serious games concepts (Whalen & Peck 2014). In the game, players follow the development, commercialisation and end of life of a new aerospace product, moving through different phases across a board representing the different steps of the product life cycle.…”