Circular performance of project equipment: The material circularity and economic value of project equipment on a project, product, and company level

The global awareness of the environmental and economic advantages of the circular economy (CE) concept has grown significantly. In order to implement this concept into company practices, a vital starting point is the adoption of a measurement framework. In the past years, the evolution of CE metrics resulted in maturity and practical...

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...

Ex-ante viability of wonder nanomaterials from waste CO2: An ex-ante techno-economic and environmental assessment of CO2 based carbon nanomaterial production and comparison with status quo

The primary objective of this study was to address the lack of understanding of the commercial- scale implementation of novel CO2 based carbon nanomaterial (CNM) production and its comparison with status quo CNM production processes using unsustainable fossil resources. To accomplish this objective, first, a literature review was performed on...

Re:Generation Liège: Reimagining Local Building Culture as a Showcase for a Circular Generation of Architecture

In the ever-evolving world of architecture and construction, there is a growing recognition of the urgent need to embrace sustainable and circular practices. As the challenges of climate change and resource depletion become increasingly apparent, architects and designers have a unique opportunity and responsibility to shape the future of our...

Design for refurbishment of child car seats – Towards circular safety critical products

This graduation project investigates the challenges of designing a safety critical consumer product suitable for the refurbishment loop of the circular economy through a case study on child car seats. Currently when child car seats are reused or resold on the second-hand market, their safety cannot be guaranteed as it is unknown whether the...

Closing the Loop: A Decision Support Framework for Circular Economy implementation to the adaptive reuse of vacant buildings in the Netherlands.

The Circular Economy (CE) in the built environment has gained ever more attention as discussions around the threats of global warming, resource scarcity, environmental impacts, and energy emissions intensify. The building industry accounts for approximately 40% of carbon emissions and reusing vacant buildings – thus slowing resource loops – is...

In search of the barriers and drivers for the implementation of a Circular Economy in Dutch infrastructure projects

In 2015, the Paris Agreement was established with the aim to strengthen the global response in limiting the increase in the global average temperature. This can be achieved by, amongst other measures, lowering of CO2 emissions. The Paris Agreement was also signed by the Netherlands. Within the Netherlands, the construction sector has the largest...

Talking circularity - the influence of actors on the building process: A study into actor networks and influence on decision-making regarding the implementation of circularity into the building process.

The purpose of this master thesis is to gather information from current practices and make recommendations to facilitate implementation of circularity in the building process. The past years, circularity has become a popular term in the built environment. This approach prefers a more circular way of perceiving the building process. Literature...

A circular platform design for upper limb stroke rehabilitation

This project has been developed within the context of a startup company that aims to improve the problem of limited stroke recovery of the upper limb in the Netherlands. The company's value proposition consists of addressing this problem by means of artificially assisted therapy. The specific mission of this project has been to reconsider the...

Circular Business Models: A company perspective

This project aimed to research the perspective of companies on the relationship between sustainability and circular business models. This was done by first looking at how literature describes the relationship between sustainability and the circular economy/circular business models. With this as a basis, thirteen different multinational companies...

Mapping stocks and flows of neodymium: An assessment of neodymium production and consumption in the Netherlands in 2010 and 2030

The Master's programme Industrial Ecology is jointly organised by Leiden University and Delft University of Technology. Neodymium applications, especially the neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) permanent magnet, have substantially enabled continuous miniaturization in the electronics sector and have become increasingly vital to electric mobility and...

Hooked: A design intervention establishing reflective fashion consumption

CONTEXT Today’s overconsumption of clothes harms the environment and the people involved in the production. Although (clothing) consumption plays an essential role in society and therefore could not be eliminated, an improvement could be made by: Preventing people from buying items they will not wear. Preventing the industry from producing...