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...

Incorporating design for remanufacturing in the early design stage: a design management perspective

Adopting design approaches that allow products to last multiple use-cycles supports European Commission objectives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reduce primary material impacts. Remanufacturing is an example of an appropriate circular strategy and it can be applied in a variety of industries that are intensive materials users....

Design for Recycling of Electronic Products: How to bridge the gap between design methods and recycling practices

The topic of this thesis is design for recycling (DfR) of electronic products. More than ever before, electronic products are intruding into our everyday life, both in the household and in industry, resulting in increasing numbers of electronic products ending up in waste streams (also known as electronic waste, or e-waste). Electronic products...

The Pioneer: The ultimate updatable robot vacuum cleaner

Today’s industry relies on the take-make-dispose approach of the linear economic model. Our linear consumption and production patterns are depleting our planet’s resources, polluting our environment and changing our climate. As a proposed solution to this problem, a circular economic model is designed to reduce the flow of non-renewable energy...

The circular pathfinder: Development and evaluation of a practice-based tool for selecting circular design strategies

The Circular Pathfinder tool, which provides guidance to companies looking for appropriate circular design strategies, was developed based on OEM (original equipment manufacturer) case studies. Ease of use was one of the main requirements during development of the tool, resulting in a software-based guide that asks a maximum of ten product...

Additive manufacturing for circular product design: A literature review from a design perspective

Circular product design is a relatively new approach to design suitable strategies to realize circular products. Additive manufacturing (AM) is seen as a promising enabling production process. It has digital and additive characteristics, which makes AM different from conventional production techniques. However, it is yet unclear how this...

The Insider system: A case study in circular product design for the backpack industry

The apparel industry is the second most polluting industry in the world, but the products they produce are used highly inefficiently. For every bag that is used on a daily basis, three bags are stored away in a closet. The Insider system is a product-service system that provides its users with the right bag on-demand. By making any bag you might...