Insights into the Circular (re)Design of Medical Wearbale Sensors

This thesis presents recommendations based on a case study focused on thecircular redesign of a wearable, single use medical device. The study addressesa knowledge gap by offering insights into the circular (re)design for products.The proposed (re)design of the system leads to a substantial reduction of CO2emissions, with...

Comparing Circular Kitchens: A Study of the Dutch Housing Sector

The built environment can become more sustainable by gradually replacing building components with circular ones. Kitchens are a logical component to be made circular, given their relatively short lifespan, product-based nature, and affordable prototypes. Since various designs for circular kitchens can be developed, understanding the feasibility...

Cooking Up a Circular Kitchen: A Longitudinal Study of Stakeholder Choices in the Development of a Circular Building Component

The built environment can be made more circular by gradually replacing building components with more circular components during construction, renovation, or maintenance. However, many different design options can be seen as circular. Although there is a growing number of studies about circular design options, research on what makes these options...

Circular Economy Competencies for Design

The circular economy offers an alternative to the linear economy (also called the take-make-use-waste society) we live in. It puts emphasis on using resources effectively by slowing and closing resources loops. Design is seen as enabler in a circular economy. Design decisions taken now have an impact on the recovery of products in the future....

Product design and business model strategies for a circular economy

The transition within business from a linear to a circular economy brings with it a range of practical challenges for companies. The following question is addressed: What are the product design and business model strategies for<br/>companies that want to move to a circular economy model? This paper develops a framework of strategies to guide...

Business Model Innovation in circular product design: A case study in kitchen appliances

Without the guarantee for product return or company ownership, circular alternatives can have a higher perceived financial risk than linear alternatives. Therefore, it is essential to start at the business model to create preconditions for a circular system and develop propositions consumers are willing to pay for. This requires a shift in...

From Smartphone to Futurephone: Assessing the Environmental Impacts of Different Circular Economy Scenarios of a Smartphone Using LCA

The lack of literature on using life cycle assessment (LCA) for increasing environmental performance raises the need for concepts or eco-design tools to be combined with LCA to answer the question of how to strategize and take actions based on LCA results. This study intends to address this need by using mobile phones as a case study and...

Product Design for a Circular Economy: A case study towards a circular luminaire

In general the majority of the current economy is a linear economy based on a ‘take-make-dispose” model that relies on easily accessible resources and energy. This creates huge amounts of waste at end of life impacting nature and society. Furthermore resource scarcity is increasingly becoming an issue impacting price and availability of products...