The European Commission pointed out in 2015, with “An EU action plan for the Circular Economy”, the importance of energy and resource preservation, by respecting Earth’s resilience and renewability (European Commission, 2015). A transition towards Circular Economy is necessary in this sense to create new sustainable advantages, protecting businesses from future potential resource scarcity and boosting the economy. In order to enable this transition, the way products are designed must change by taking into account product life-extension, reuse, refurbishing and recycling. In recent years, Philips has expressed a growing interest in circular economy, becoming global partner of the Ellen MacArthur foundation (Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2017), and setting the target “Healthy people, sustainable planet”, committing itself to reach 15% of turnover coming from solution respecting circular principles by 2020 (Philips.com, 2016). This pushed the company to investigate the current state of their product portfolio and new ways of designing consumer goods. In this sense, product repairability and disassembly represent some of the most important design requirements in order to enable circular business models. Carried out in collaboration with the company, this research project practically investigates design features which influence positively and negatively product repairability, eventually proposing new design guidelines and methodologies for design for repairability and product retirement. The European Commission Joint Research Centre released in 2019 a Scoring Assessment System for Repair and Upgrade of Products (Cordella et al., 2019). This system has been applied on seven consumer products, part of the vacuum cleaners product group, assessing more than 260 disassembly operations. Firstly, insights gathered during this analysis have resulted in a list of practical design recommendation for the manufacturer and remarks on the assessment system itself. Additionally, a new design tool for product architecture mapping, called Disassembly Map, was created. This is an effective method to represent the architecture of a product, showing disassembly depth of all the product components and the intricate logic connections which link them to each other. The most important components for product repairability and retirement are spotted using special indicators, guiding the attention of designers towards these products’ “hot-spot”.This design tool, together with the insights collected from the repairability assessment, were tested by redesigning a representative consumer product, together with the Philips I&D department. During this process, the following design methodologies have been explored: Redesign for disassembly time optimization through clumping methodology, Redesign for hotspot components accessibility through bottom-up assembly, Redesign for legislation compliance and use of common tools and Redesign for sequential independent disassembly and safer self-repairs. The results achieved convinced the manufacturer to define together new serviceability design requirements, which will be implemented in the development of future Philips canister vacuum cleaners. This research concludes suggesting new assessment values for a discrete rating system of canister vacuum cleaners, which could be used by the European Commission Joint Research Centre for possible future iterations of the Scoring System for Repair and Upgrade of Products.

This report provides an analysis of the consumer experience at the end-of-use phase of a product. The study in this report focussed on the consumer-product relationship: how this plays a role in the process of product detachment, and what this means for products at the end-of-use, with a specific attention for products in a circular economy. This end-of-use phase has been analysed with the goal of creating a design tool that enables industrial design students to design for the end-of-use consumer experience. A theoretical framework of detachment is developed that shows the process of consumers when wanting to detach themselves from their possession. This framework is based on the works of Roster (2001) and Türe (2014). The detachment process consists of two parts: (1) dispossession, which is the mental process of distancing yourself from the product, and (2) separation, which is the physical act of removing the product from your life. During the dispossession process, the consumer evaluates the product on what it is still worth to him and shows a dispossession behaviour to enable himself for physical separation. To be able to design for the end-of-use experience, designers need to comprehend the detachment process, the consequences of the dispossession behaviours and need to be able to apply this knowledge into designing an end-of-use experience. The developed design tool enables design students to analyse the detachment process with the use of consumer-product lifecycle, and recognize where opportunities lie for an end-of-use experience by reflecting on the lifecycle and defining a design goal, concluding the analysis. The tool will be used in a workshop context, where the students are introduced to the concept of detachment and the consumer experiences at the end-of-use. They are supported to find opportunities for which they could design a new end-of-use experience that stimulates their consumer to keep their product in the circular loop.

The circular economy is an economic system that aims to replace the linear economy and the accompanying take-make-dispose mindset. It is an economic system that decouples economic growth from finite resource consumption. The Sustainable Finance Lab (SFL) identified two requirements for a high state of circularity. 1) Products are serviced instead of sold and 2) the entire life-cycle of products must be considered. As a solution, the SFL came up with the idea of collective servitization (CS). It meets the previous requirements by aligning the incentives of all the value chain participants involved in a product-service system by compensating each of them as long as the product is in working condition. However, the SFL predicted four implementation barriers related to CS. The SFL expects 1) a need to share innovation costs, 2) high administration costs, 3) increasingly complex devision of ownership, and 4) a need to directly handle micro-transactions. To help overcome CS challenges, the SFL conceptualized the Circular Service (CiSe) platform. It is an administration tool for collectively serviced pay-per-access and pay-per-use products. It aims to use the novel technologies blockchain, cryptocurrency, and smart contracts to overcome these challenges. 1) The CiSe platform reduces transaction costs by automatically handling product use and access payments without an intermediary. 2) The CiSe platform stores the transactions of use and access in a distributed database that is publicly accessible. By viewing all the payments and costs, the SFL expects that companies can better decide on responsibilities. At last, 3) micro-transactions are made possible with the Micro-Euro cryptocurrency. From an Industrial Ecology (IE) perspective, the use of blockchain technology is fascinating. IE is a scientific discipline that takes a systemic approach to sustainability problems. Engineering, environmental, and social perspectives are crucial for the successful and sustainable implementation of new technologies. Blockchain technology has a wide range of technical applications. The question is if these technologies are effective in overcoming CS. In order to get initial insights into the effectiveness of blockchain technology in implementing collective servitization, this master thesis focuses on the company Bundles and their combined pay-per-access and pay-per-use washing machines. The following research question will be answered: “How effective could the Circular Service platform implement collectively serviced Bundles washing machines?” To address this question this thesis used a threefold structure. It consisted of a literature study that identified 51 blockchain designs in the literature and multiple papers oriented on both blockchain and the circular economy and blockchain and product-service systems. These provided insights into the problems and need for CS, insights into the solutions of the CiSe platform and their technical viability, as well as insights into additional challenges for the CiSe platform. Moreover, a business analysis identified 33 blockchain companies. These provided more insights into the technical viability of the CiSe platform. Finally, a case study explored collectively serviced Bundles washing machines on the CiSe platform. The primary stakeholder Miele and Vonk en Co were included in the CS business model. The case study helped identify additional opportunties and challenges of CS and the CiSe platform. The results of this study are not straightforward and mainly raise questions for additional research. This is largely because of the conceptual nature of CS and the CiSe platform, the majority of researched papers being conceptual, the majority of researched companies being in the experimental phase, and the explorative nature of the case study. There are some promising results and some challenges related to the effectiveness of the CiSe paltform. There is some economic potential by including Bundles, Miele, and Vonk en Co in a collectively serviced business model. This is for three reasons. Firstly, the transactional relationship and the cost for added value dissapear between each of the members in the collective servitization business model. Secondly, the CiSe platform further reduces the administration cost related to distributing revenue. Finally, by spreading the initial investments amongst multiple stakeholders the barrier for entry for Miele and Vonk en Co can become lower. However, It is improbable that a collectively serviced Bundles washing machine with Miele and Vonk en Co will happen. It is for four reasons. Firstly, Bundles will lose their role as risk-taker. Moreover, Bundles does not provide any additional value. Furthermore, Miele has the resources available to do the washing machine service themselves. Finally, Miele and Vonk en Co currently have a profitable collaboration with Bundles without long-term risks. Additional challenges are related to the use of blockchain technology. First of all, there is a problem with the flexibility of blockchain systems. Once live, blockchain systems and their smart contracts can not be altered. It can become problematic with a collectively serviced washing machine that is intended to be long-term. Moreover, the vulnerability of the system moves to the sensors. Due to the autonomous and automatic nature of the CiSe platform, a faulty or hacked sensor can wrongfully activate transactions. Furthermore, blockchain systems can generally only handle low transaction volumes. The CiSe platform’s scale is dependent on the number of products and the types of products that are going to be serviced. The main limitation of this study is in its conceptual and explorative nature. It is due to four reasons. Firstly, there is no support of the definition of CS in literature. Secondly, no direct comparison could be found of the CiSe platform concept either. Moreover, the results from the two systemic literature reviews were mainly conceptual papers. Finally, the case study is explorative. All in all, this means that these results are not final. They are indicative and more research is necessary to determine the effectiveness of the CiSe platform in overcoming CS barriers. To move the development of the CiSe platform forward, it is essential that the need for and problems of CS are researched more thoroughly. The case study revealed that CS is not for every value chain. If there is no need for CS, then the CiSe platform is irrelevant. If the CiSe platform does not address the right barriers of CS, the same fate awaits. It is advised to prioritize research into CS before developing the CiSe platform further.

The graduation project, which is recorded in this report, was initiated to explore the possibilities for BeSafe, a long-time manufacturer of child safety seats for (automotive) transport, to become sustainable. As the knowledge regarding the subject within the company was of insufficient, Delft University of Technology was contacted to extend the knowledge, and lay the foundation of a future sustainability strategy for the company. The outcome of this project is a sustainability strategy (BeSafe & Sustainable) and a sample case demonstrating how this strategy could be implanted. The project has three main phases; During the analysis phase, insights are gathered to uncover possibilities to add value to the company through sustainability. The analysis covers the context of company, its products and their footprint, and the market the company is operating in. Different stakeholders that influence, are affected by, or are influenced by any way the company is operating are then investigated. Apart from the customer, which has a major influence on the demand and used of the product, the environment and society are two important stakeholders. To finalise this phase, the sustainability strategies of multiple companies were analysed to see how other they strategise their efforts to be sustainable. In the synthesis phase, the insights gathered during the analysis are combined, with input from the New Product Development of BeSafe, using the value mapping tool by Bocken et al. (2013). The value map helps to gives an overview of the values captured, and helps to generated value opportunities based on missed, destroyed and wasted values. Based on the analysis and the value map, a sustainability strategy for BeSafe is developed. ‘BeSafe & Sustainable’ covers; safety provided by products; the use of materials and energy; the ability of employees to deploy change within the company; how design could help to BeSafe become more sustainable; the involvement of partner; adaption of the business model; and transparency about sustainability efforts. In the sustainability roadmap, an overview is given of possible goals and actions that the company should pursue to follow the set strategy. To illustrate how the implementation of the sustainability strategy could be done, a sample case was performed. The case shows how an existing lease service could be adjusted to fit the new strategy. Analysis of the existing lease model uncovered that the logistics and refurbishment of seats could be optimised. Therefor recommendations are given to update the design of a baby seat to better fit the refurbishment process and allow for extended product lifetime and better recycling of materials. The sample case is closed off with a product packaging redesign. In the present system, products are retrieved using a plastic bag. Due to this form of packing, the products get damaged during transport, thereby reducing the ability to refurbish the product. To reduce the impact of transportation on the product, the packaging of the toddler seat, which is send to the customer to replace a used baby seat, is adjusted in such a way it can be used to retrieve the baby seat, increasing the possibility of the seat to be used again refurbishment.

This project aims to reduce the environmental impact of the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), the department which provides constant care to critical patients. One of the most common and wasteful ICU procedures is intubation. Intubation is needed when patients cannot breathe by themselves. Can we design a circular intubation procedure as a catalyser for systemic change towards circular ICUs? This project aims to design a pilot system to initiate the transition towards circular intubations. Research was done to understand better the current waste created by the ICU. A set of challenges derived from the research were used to ideate on different systems which could improve the ICU sustainability. It was decided to further detail a system that allows reuse of intubation devices, articulating the first pilot around a specific product, the video laryngoscope. This video laryngoscope is used to intubate patients. It is composed of various plastics and electronics and has a relatively high procurement cost. Nevertheless, it is a single-use device, disposed of and incinerated after a few minutes of use. Ideation on a system enabling a safe and hassle-free reuse of the video laryngoscope at the ICU with a lower environmental impact was done. Two pilot systems were proposed:  The first proposal, reduce, enables Erasmus MC to reuse the current video laryngoscope in use at the ICU. Adding a removable plastic cover to the device enables reuse of the device. By not binging the device in direct contact with the patient, fewer reprocessing steps will be required since fewer microorganisms will get in contact with the video laryngoscope. The second proposal, reuse, offers the complete reuse of a modular video laryngoscope. The main body would be, likewise the first proposal, reprocessed after not having been in contact with the patient. A hardcover would surround the product and would be redesigned to allow reuse and traceability of the number of reprocessing cycles it has gone through. Reprocessing in both proposals could be done at the ICU. Not relying on the sterilization department allows the ICU to be resilient and to increase devices availability.The use of a novel reprocessing technique, UVC radiations, is proposed. Compared to current reprocessing techniques, it consumes less water, electricity, and space. In addition, UVC reprocessing allows a high level of automation of the process, increasing its safety and reducing the hassle for ICU workers.  Outcomes A better understanding of the healthcare complexity and impact has been achieved. An action plan towards a pilot system is proposed, with which CO2 emissions, amount of waste and costs for the hospital would be reduced compared to the current single-use system. Future scale-up of the reuse system to other devices is envisioned, as well as replicating it into other Erasmus MC departments. Next to this pilot focusing on reuse, a set of complementary opportunities areas to introduce circularity to the ICU are summarized in a booklet.

This graduation project explored how the circular economy could be implemented for single-use surgical devices like the endocutter. Design for reprocessing appears to be the best strategy, but modular solutions should be considered when reprocessing the entire device is not feasible. The project followed a transition management approach; a sustainable future is envisioned for the industry, and through backcasting a radical but short-term feasible solution is designed which could help us move towards this future. Conceptual service design “MedFlo” helps healthcare facilities overcome barriers in the implementation of modular devices into their workflow and logistics, by providing access to a safe and complete inventory of devices. MedFlo can help decrease the environmental and waste footprint of medical devices, create more resilient supply chains, stimulate circular design initiatives and serves as an example of how the circular economy can be implemented in the MedTech industry.

Materiom is an online initiative that has been growing an online open source database of bio-based material recipes over the last couple of years. A new category of recipes to be found on this website is the category of bio-based 3D printable materials. The first 3D printable material recipe to emerge in the database was developed at the TU Delft. Since then the recipe was further developed into an alginate mussel shell composite. It was time for the next step: How can more of these kinds of materials be developed? Are there any ‘universal truths’ to be found in developing these materials and how can makers/designers be guided in this process? To tackle this problem a multileveled analysis was performed. A literature review of 3D printing with bio-based materials showed that in different fields of expertise, ranging from the medical field to the field of food, the first steps had been made into printing with bio-based materials. Printing experiments were then performed with a selection of binder materials mentioned in these papers. With iota-Carrageenan and kappa-Carrageenan in combination with different kinds of fillers such as rice starch and ground cacao shell, succesfull prints were made. Furthermore, interesting hand-printing results were obtained with chitosan and alginate. More importantly, however, an indicative range of material ratios was found that could help future material developers save time in their search. Finally, some basic guidelines for the printer set-up regarding nozzle size, print head speed and extrusion speed were formulated based on the findings in the experiments. These results led, together with the insights gained from analyzing makerspaces, cookbooks and the Materiom website, to a design proposal for an online material development tool. Currently the Materiom website provides ready-made recipes. As noticed during the analysis phase, however, not every experiment leads to a complete recipe. Also, based on the experience of a material developer, complete recipes are not always what is needed. Recipes can be inflexible and hinder experimentation and innovation. The material development tool provides therefore room for data on different levels. This means that the community can share a larger amount of data and it leaves room for more experimentation and innovation. This idea is brought in practice by dividing data into three different parts: Material information, material compatibility information and complete recipes. Together with a formulaic recipe that gives a starting point for experimentation and printer set-up guidelines, material developers have a range of tools that they can use according to their needs and likings for new material development. And when the experiments have been carried out, the data can be shared with community even when the results were not satisfying and thus saving time of their successors.

This study explores the environmental sustainability of digital health devices, specifically smart pillboxes, which are designed to help patients manage their medication, improve their health, and reduce medication non-adherence. The use of such devices has increased electronic and plastic waste and has resulted in a higher demand for critical raw materials, raising questions about their potential environmental impacts. The Digital Health in Circular Economy (DiCE) project aims to address these issues by examining the environmental sustainability of digital health devices and providing solutions to reduce their impact on the environment. This research uses Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), Disassembly Map, Recovery Assessment, and Circular Product Readiness methods to assess the environmental impact of smart pillboxes at both product and functional levels. The study examines the potential environmental impact of the product's materials, production, use, and end-of-life disposal. The research suggests improvements to increase the product's environmental sustainability, such as the use of screws instead of snap fits to attach the sub-assemblies, fixating the battery in a designated spot to prevent detaching, and promoting environmentally desirable habits, such as prolonging battery life and guiding end-of-life recovery of the product. The study concludes that there is potential for further improvement to increase the product's environmental sustainability, which could lead to an improved overall health. While the current findings do not lead to absolute conclusions, this research provides a basis for comparing the environmental impact (in DALY) and benefits of digital health devices (in QALY).

The planet cannot keep sustaining our linear economy much longer. Industries are moving circular to reduce environmental impact. The kitchen industry has to change. CIK (the Circular Kitchen) is a research project that develops a circular kitchen: a product-service system for tenants in social housing in the Netherlands. The product is aimed to be market ready in 2022 and should have significantly less negative environmental impact. The partners in this project are material suppliers, part suppliers, a kitchen manufacturer, a contractor, housing associations and tenants. For a functioning and viable design, all stakeholders must cooperate. This graduation project started with investigating what tensions the circular kitchen might bring for social housing tenants and finds a solution for this. With an integral approach, the life of the tenants in the kitchen was researched along with the changes that the circular kitchen brings. All aspects of design were taken into account: technology, business and people. The approach for this project, an ‘iterative representation of the basic design cycle’, is combined with methods from service design and user-centered design. This project is divided in three consecutive cycles. Every cycle contains different phases: framing, envisioning, realisation and validation. In each cycle the design is iterated and refined. The assignment and problem definition form the basis and starting point for analyses. CIK, the stakeholders, and the background of the problem are researched. ‘Design A’ is evaluated in user research. The context of the problem was investigated by using literature studies and context-mapping with tenants. The context-mapping sessions provided a holistic view on the life of the user in the kitchen. It appeared that tenants differ in their perception of the kitchen. Their kitchen has an emotional or functional role and their activity in the kitchen are either individually or socially focused. These findings are visualised in a framework that shows four types of social housing tenants (Figure 1). Additionally, shared values were found among this research group (Figure 2). In cycle B new knowledge that was retrieved from user research is framed to start refining the design. The service- side of CIK needed development: new insights were translated into an integral service concept that tackles conflicts that can arise between circular interest and the tenants. The input of the evaluation of the design with the major stakeholder - the kitchen manufacturer - resulted into the introduction of a new partner that drives the organisation as a whole: Het Keukencollectief. An intermediary that guides all stakeholders and is the key to a successful and fertile business. Cycle C is focused on detailing the intermediary (Het Keukencollectief), the service, and the front-end of the service (digital web-app). Research demonstrated that the business should focus on both the basic kitchen and on upgrade possibilities. This formed the basis of a newly created digital platform. A final evaluation of the front-end design of the service showed that the design was attractive for the tenant and functioned as envisioned. To conclude, this report describes a user-centered design process in multiple iterative cycles resulting in a design proposal for a service system to facilitate a circular kitchen for social housing in the Netherlands. The most important addition to the current project is the design of the intermediary ‘Het Keukencollectief’ with the front-end service design.

Within this project a design approach of 3 phases is created to guide designers in the redesign of an existing product for Repurpose: 1.Starting point: To find certain opportunities in the future by highlighting essential valuable aspects of the current product that could be maintained in future products. 2.Product Opportunity: The Designer is guided from evolved ‘valuable aspects’ towards 1 chosen product opportunity, by which the current product can be Repurposed. ‘Search Areas’:This phase aims to inspire how value of a current product can be extended towards the future. 3.Design for Change: Redesign product and parts for efficient and effective transition into the subsequent use-cycle.

One of the biggest downsides to the growing fashion industry is its unsustainable and wasteful character. Currently, the fashion industry produces, distributes and utilizes clothing in a linear way, making it among the main industries responsible for the negative environmental and social aspects of sustainability (Madsen, Hartlin, Perumalpillai, Selby, & Aumônier, 2007). In recent years several studies have addressed the potential of the Circular Economy by taking a more consumer led approach to reduce the environmental and societal impact of the fashion industry (Armstrong, Niinimäki, Kujala, Karell, & Lang, 2015; Laitala, Boks & Klepp, 2015; Mugge, 2017). However, the role of educating consumers by design, something that is seen by industry leaders and researchers as crucial if we want them to play more active roles in enabling a circular fashion economy, remains unanswered and is therefore explored in this thesis. Fashion prototypes that fill the gap between fast fashion and slow fashion are used as design case studies and offer a different perspective on designing for a more efficient and thoughtful use of resources. By qualitative interviews with four types of millennial consumers and the identification of six opportunity areas, the sock service SwapSocks was designed, that improves the environmental impact of socks by saving 38% of CO2 emissions and 50% of energy, compared to traditional socks. In addition to this, it educates consumers towards a better textile life by actively involving them in the swapping process and encourages them by means of packaging design, a website and online community to apply the principles of the service to other fashion items in their wardrobe as well. By providing a suitable solution for sustainable fashion consumption, this thesis addresses the potential of design to educate consumers towards a better textile life and therefore contributes to ongoing research efforts in the field of the circular economy and circular fashion design. As our changing mindsets are going to be key for our circular futures, the report illustrates, several future opportunities for the fashion industry specifically for millennial consumers, and identifies four types of millennial consumers. These, together with the final design solution, could help to inspire the fashion world and bring industry actors across the network together in finding solutions for a better textile world.

The company introduced their new circular economy objectives for 2025 with the statement that they will close the loop by offering a trade-in on all professional medical equipment and taking care of responsible repurposing. Recycling has the least amount of value according to the circular system diagram of the company which means that a lot of valuable material will be lost in this process. The main goal of this study is to propose a redesign that reduces the total amount of waste and generate more value for the current closed-loop system by 2025. Product X has been taken as a use case throughout this study. A literature study on the Materials Flow Analysis in combination with Sankey’s diagram has been performed to develop a visual representation of the life cycle of Product X. The goal is to provide insight into the End of Life practice of Product X and identify new circular opportunities for the company. The results led to a focus on refurbishment and part harvesting to increase the repurposing value of Product X. The identified obstructions have been rewritten into design challenges which were the guiding principles for the redesign Product X. The redesign of Product X has an optimized architecture that facilitates material reuse up to 82%. Three different business cases have been performed concerning the lifespan of Product X to estimate the potential circular revenue of Product X in time. The results indicated that the early and mid-stage of the redesign are feasible for the current refurbishment process and the late stage of the lifecycle should be dedicated to part harvesting process to capture as much material value as possible. The summarized business case indicates that the current revenue income of the redesign could be increased by 11% of circular revenue if it would be implemented. A final Material Flow Analysis is performed on the redesign of Product X to gain insight on the impact of switching to a strategy like refurbishment that increases the material value for the closed-loop system.

The current vision of Microcab is to increase the repair capabilities of the VIANOVA. Part of that vision is to begin the shift towards a circular economy in which the lifecycle of the product is extended, and parts can be processed in a circular manner during the lifecycle. Considering that Microcab is a small company and the challenge is considerable, additional safety regulations mean that a vehicle should become a road-safe vehicle. This graduation project contributes to this challenge by researching the main question that focusses on the front section of the vehicle: ‘How can Microcab design the front section of the VIANOVA to increase the repairability and solve the safety issues?’. Through several analyses and explorative design directions, the result is a concept that reconfigures the front section of the VIANOVA to allow for increased repairability and better safety requirements while maintaining the goal of becoming more circular. An important requirement is that the concept should allow for a production volume of 500 units annually. The current design of the front clip is a single large body panel hand-made from a glass fibre reinforced thermoset, which is difficult to repurpose and recycle. Based on research data, a sustainable alternative known as thermoplastic olefin (TPO) is introduced. Furthermore, the front clip has been split into four segments. These changes allow for better repair capabilities and lower the overall impact of a low-speed collision. In order to make this possible, structures were required to support the panels and increase energy absorption. The bonnet with incorporated headlights is enlarged to increase accessibility during service and fixated on the support structure, removing it from the impact zone. The support was required to improve safety for pedestrians and increase protection of internal components. This support consists of adding an energy absorber, upper load beams, cross member, and extending the width of the bumper beam. Additionally, it is recommended to use plastic fasteners to increase circular capabilities, considering that these are more likely to break, allowing for the body panels to remain intact. Lastly, it is recommended to implement a different type of surface finish. 3M provides an PVC-free wrap material, reducing the use of harmful chemicals and increasing repairability and circularity. This change also provides opportunities to illustrate internals or implement advertisement. Therefore, the project reveals that there are multiple elements that can have a positive influence on the repairability and safety issues while at the same time, shift towards a circular economy. The recommendations that emerged from the project provide a high desirability, but will require follow-up research am physical crash testing to determine optimal configuration of the front section, and create a better understanding of the elements and how they influence impact resistance and repairability.

The aim of this project is to bring more eco-design into business practices. The specific approach to this project is to bring eco-design methods to startup with an introduction via the Lean Startup method. With the help of input of startup founders, a solution has been found in the form of an opportunity identification tool. This tool allows users to see how eco-design can benefit their business and how any changes induced by eco-design criteria will affect the business. This tool, called Improvement Identifier Canvas, is useable with the iterative approach applied in the Lean Startup. This allows to keep track of the ever evolving business and effect of eco-design changes.

This project proposes a no-waste, reusable packaging approach for networking equipment used in KPN’s business-to-business market. The goal of this project was to create a first proof of concept of reusable packaging in KPN’s logistical and manual processes, and therefore create a stepping stone towards further scaling-up reusable packaging across their operation. KPN, the leading telecom company in the Netherlands, wants to accelerate the journey to become near 100% circular by 2025, in which the reduction of packaging waste plays an important role. To reduce this to virtually zero, a reusable packaging approach is suggested. Additionally, research showed that the return logistics of a number of B2B services are hindered due to a lack of packaging, which causes product damage and a delayed turnaround time. With insight from the research a packaging prototype was designed and developed to be tested in a first pilot. A ‘ reusable messenger bag’ concept was selected, as it is durable, relatively cheap, size efficient and an already known, and valued packaging concept among mechanics and the refurbishment partner. To support the distribution of the packaging in an effective way, a logistic concept is proposed. This mechanic-centred system architecture ensures the availability of packaging at all times, potentially solving the return issues that were found in the research. In the pilot, the accessibility of logistics, workflow of employees and the functionality of the product are tested in an actual order of a popular B2B service of KPN. The pilot resulted in a successful proof of concept and a first stepping stone towards the implementation of a zero-waste, reusable packaging approach for KPN. With a small-scale, technical implementation of this concept, it was shown that reusable packaging has the potential to not only reduce packaging waste, but also increase the workflow of involved stakeholders, improve the return logistics of electronics and therefore also reduce costs. This resulted in a positive and profitable business case for further development of this concept. The biggest limitation was the small and narrow scope of testing (n=1). This made it difficult to actually validate if the return logistics were improved by a reusable packaging, as logistics manifest itself at scale. As a further roll-out of the concept shows to be interesting for KPN, the first next step would be to scale up the testing over the entire VPN service (±1000 orders yearly) to validate the logistic concept and functionality of the product.

When it comes to mobile devices, off-boarding is a less well-acknowledged part of the product lifecycle, the vocabularies around endings are deficient. Both consumers and companies, however, tend to overlook the importance of the EOU consumer experience and its impact on a transition towards a CE. Companies like to introduce ‘hello’ to new products while neglecting the ‘goodbye’ stage. They hardly pay attention to what happens after the consumers no longer use them. Consumer-wise, many mobile devices are left somewhere at home because of various reasons including data safety, pollution concerns as well as denial about the ending of lifespan. Therefore, the design opportunity exists in knowing mobile device consumers’ experiences at the off-boarding phase thus to design a valuable approach to enable them have a meaningful ‘goodbye’ at the end of the product’s lifecycle and as a result, to return the mobile devices to the corresponding refurbishment and recycle services to close the loop.

Over the past years, electric vehicle charging company EVBox has, in collaboration with design agency VanBerlo made the first steps in becoming more circular. Within this project further steps have been explored on both strategic- and product level of EVBox’s commercial AC chargers. First, an analysis on the EV context led to the conclusion that there are many stakeholders involved that need to be included in the value retention process and that EVBox could strengthen its market position by differentiating by becoming circular rather than just sustainable. Secondly, through a method dubbed reverse logistics mapping the economic viability of implementing maintenance and repair-, remanufacturing-, recycling- and component harvesting strategies was explored. A cascading strategy where all benefits of the aforementioned strategies can be added up, was chosen as the most fruitful. Thirdly, by disassembling two chargers Disassembly Maps (De Fazio, 2018) could be made where areas of improvement were found. The EVBox Iqon was chosen as the focus product and redesigns were proposed based on the areas of improvement and priority components, namely the charger cables, side panels and kWh-meter. Through Disassembly Map-guided brainstorm sessions multiple redesign proposals were developed within the solution spaces of a redesigned installerbox that allows for the harvesting of the kWh-meter; mechanical fastening of the PMMA plates to completely liberate the side panels for reconditioning; and a modified stopper mechanism to allow easier replacement of the cables. The chosen redesign is a custom installerbox which allows for a decrease of disassembly time of 76% compared to the original design. Furthermore, this project has proven that the Disassembly Map is a suitable tool to evaluate and guide redesign sessions for EV chargers. This project resulted in a proposal for EVBox’s future approach to circular design: Standard definitions of circular jargon have to be implemented throughout the whole company to facilitate communication and avoid miscommunication on the topic. The tools used in this project, namely the Disassembly Map and Reverse Logistics Mapping can be used to guide future circular design activities. The tools can be used on other products within the portfolio or to develop the focus strategy and product further. It is preferable to take circularity into account from the earliest stages of development, as it is difficult to optimise a product for circularity that is already on the market. When optimising a product for circularity that is already on the market, it is advised to focus on optimising 1 area of the product per time. The actual implementation of circular strategies goes much further than calculations and redesigns; the structure of a company has to be adapted too. If EVBox manages to successfully implement a cascading strategy both in- and outside the company, it can become one of the sustainable frontrunners in the EVSE market. In the long term it might be worthwhile to change to a subscription model, also known as ‘charging as a service’.

Accell Group is the European market leader in e-bikes and the European number two player in bicycle parts and accessories. Well- known bicycle brands in their portfolio include Babboe, Batavus, Ghost, Haibike, Koga, Lapierre, Raleigh, Sparta and Winora. Since Accell has decided to give sustainability a higher priority, there is a need to integrate sustainability in the product design process (also referred to as PDP). In the analysis phase of the project, the context, sustainable progression and product development process were analyzed. Insights from sustainable progression were that currently no strategy for sustainable progression exists, and biggest opportunities for lowering impact on the environment were in the use of recovered materials, and better end-of-use processing. Next, the product development process and its users were analyzed. Although designers are motivated to make design choices of influence to the sustainability of the bicycle and / or production process, the culture in Accell currently not actively encourages such choices in design as costs and speed of execution have a higher priority. To validate such choices in design, it should be quantified enabling it’s integration in bicycle requirement documents. These insights resulted in the choice of the circular economy as main approach in the project. It provides a clear vision (zero impact on the environment) and includes strategies that combine financial and sustainable demands. Furthermore, circular methodologies are being developed that enable to assess progression. In the circular exploration phase, the perspective of the circular economy is used to analyse the current bicycle lifecycle (from production to end-of-use) to spot opportunities for improvement. Various circular economy assessment methodologies are tested through application on Accell Group. Insights gathered from this phase were translated into requirements for the development of the circular tool. The methodologies, strategies and guidelines were discussed, validated and tested during the exploring phase on several project teams, and feasability also discussed with new business development and supply chain. Insights gained from these interactions were implemented in the development of the circular tool. In the development phase a circular tool was designed, using insights from the circular exploration. The tool functions a circular conversation facilitator, and simultaneously as a indicator for circular progression of a bicycle development project. Therefore, it can communicate the circular value of a project between project teams, I&T department and managements, enabling to set goals and work towards them. The score achieved in a project is linked to assessments created on a system, design and component level, using indicators such as (dis)assembly time, percentage of recovered materials, use of toxic materials and established recovery players in a project. Furthermore, it includes guidelines on these same levels to help thinking in circular loops, create circular business models, choose green materials and circular plastics, design for disassembly and finally select sustainable suppliers. Circular indicators were created to include in the documents used in the product development process, with the goal of gathering information about materials and components from suppliers. Finally, moments of using the tool were established for integration in the product development process. In the validation phase, the final Accell circular tool is tested on the a public transport tender. Finally, communication of the tool during the project is summarized, and recommendations for further activation within Accell are given

One of the key business models Gorenje andASKO have researched upon is a service model of circular washing machine under a pay per use (PPU) business model. PPU business models are currently mostly used within shared washing rooms, which is also the segment in which ASKO will enter withtheir first circular washing machines. However, even though PPU business models help nudge sustainable consumer behaviour, it can also have negative effects on consumer acceptance towards PSS and create negative emotional connections towards the brand itself. Key competitors currently offer circular products under PPU or leasing business models, but lack differentiation and clear unique selling points. To date, most competitors in the market struggle to offer new experiences with a circular product launch and seem to solely meet the requirements of potential regulations. However, this also offers an opportunity towards ASKO, as they have a chance to reposition their brand towards a broader target market and create new and unique brand experiences which set themselves apart from competition. MyASKO is a sub-brand and brand extension of ASKO which is targeted towards “aware millennials” who are using shared washing rooms within student accommodations, serviced apartments or communal homes. MyASKO also offers a digital brand experience which is rewarding and gives members the opportunity to proactively contribute towards local & global sustainable initiatives by choosing to wash on sustainable modes. By making the experience more rewarding and by engaging with local communities through sustainable initiatives, MyASKO increased the chance to create brand loyalty and potentially keep members for future circular washing machines for the private domestic market.