Responsible Design Thinking for Sustainable Development: Critical Literature Review, New Conceptual Framework, and Research Agenda

In the 1960s, influential thinkers defined design as a rational problem-solving approach to deal with the challenges of sustainable human development. In 2009, a design consultant and a business academic selected some of these ideas and successfully branded them with the term “design thinking.” As a result, design thinking has developed into...

Reclaimed Concrete Use in Double-Curved, Compression-Only Structures: Design and Evaluation

Cement production is responsible for 8% of the anthropogenic CO2 emissions [1]. Reducing this share will be a strenuous task as the global population and urbanization rates are increasing and, therefore, the need for concrete will remain high [2], [3]. Simultaneously, despite the alarming statistic, a vast majority of demolished concrete...

Should the milkman return? The effect of a reusable packaging on product perceptions and behavioural intentions

This research investigates how consumers evaluate returnable packaging for fast-moving consumer goods. Through three online studies, we analysed how returnable packaging influences consumer behavioural intentions (intention to recommend and repurchase intention), overall attitudes and product perceptions (attitude towards the product,...

Guidelines to Foster Consumer Acceptance of Products Made from Recycled Plastics

The circular economy can reduce the environmental footprint of today’s consumption and close the resource loop through circular material flows. Companies are encouraged to fol- low circular principles, such as using more recycled plastic materials. This initiative seems promising; however, it will only be successful if consumers are willing to...

Circular design of composite products: A framework based on insights from literature and industry

Composite materials are an attractive material choice as they enable lightweight, low-maintenance products with a long lifespan. Recycling these materials, however, remains a chal-lenge. Homogeneous material composition and the use of thermoset matrices complicate repro-cessing, and result in low-grade recyclate. This means that closing the...

Structural reuse of wind turbine blades through segmentation

Composite materials offer many advantages during the use phase, but recovery at the end of a lifecycle remains a challenge. Structural reuse, where an end of life product is segmented into construction elements, may be a promising alternative. However, composites are often used in large, complex shaped products with optimised material...

A tool to analyze, ideate and develop circular innovation ecosystems

The circular economy may help firms to maximize the value of their material resources and minimize the overall resource use, waste, pollution and emissions of their business activities. Implementing a circular economy program requires radical changes in product, business model and ecosystem innovation. Most research on circular oriented...