Conceptualising a Circular Economy—an Enquiry into Circular Economy Conceptual Metaphors

Numerous academic scholars argue for a radical transformation of the economy towards a circular model, in response to pressures from planetary and social issues such as energy, climate change, inequality, and resource depletion. This study examines how the academic community perceives the concept of a circular economy in comparison to...

The strategic value of design for remanufacturing: a case study of professional imaging equipment

Remanufacturing offers an approach to extend product lifetime beyond its first use. After restoring products to original quality, they are reintroduced to the market. To make products more suited for this approach, and to increase resource-efficiency, design for remanufacturing can be incorporated for new product development. Academic...

The Role of Urban Manufacturing for a Circular Economy in Cities

In recent years, implementing a circular economy in cities (or “circular cities”) has been proposed by policy makers as a potential solution for achieving sustainability. One strategy for circular cities is to reintroduce manufacturing into urban areas (or “urban manufacturing”), allowing resource flows to be localized at the city scale. However...

Safety and Health Concerns for the Users of a Playground, Built with Reused Rotor Blades from a Dismantled Wind Turbine

This paper analyses the user safety of a playground built out of reused blades from a dismantled wind turbine. Located in Rotterdam and designed by the Netherlands architecture firm Superuse Studios, the playground, called “Wikado”, represents an example of the circular economy applied to the built environment. With reused materials, Wikado...

Product policy and material scarcity challenges: The essential role of government in the past and lessons for today

Materials are important in economies, business, innovation activity and products, and they have quickly become essential to maintain and improve our quality of life. The world faces problems concerning material supply, but these concerns are not translated into product design activity, even though history shows that product design policy can...