Standard Guide for Principles of Circular Product Design

Importancia y uso:

5.1 In a circular economy, products and their materials can maintain economic and societal value through resource management actions such as: (1) extended-use processing strategies, including reuse, repair, retrofit, and refurbish; (2) end-of-use processing strategies, including cascade and recycle; and (3) regeneration of renewable resources.

5.1.1 Resource management actions may lead to a reduction in waste, restoration of the environment, and sustainable development. Resource management actions are achieved through systems-level interventions and integrated interdisciplinary approaches to design where particular care is given to end-of-use recovery at the point of product conceptualization.

5.2 Modern sustainability is described by the dimensions of environment, economy, and society, also coined as the triple-bottom-line by Elkington and Rowlands in 1999.5 Since then, sustainability concepts have been expanded through the concept of circular economy. Through a circular economy, sustainable development can be accomplished through systems-level interventions and integrated interdisciplinary approaches to product design, with particular care put towards the EoU pathways at the point of product conceptualization.

5.3 Circular product design addresses the goals of a circular economy using principles and design processes focused on the preservation of product value through its current and subsequent life-cycles. Circular product design emphasizes factors such as physical design, material choice, use of renewable resources, product intention and integrity, and systems integrations across the entire circular product life-cycle to maximize material value and reduce the burdens associated with resource management actions.

5.3.1 Circular product design builds on long-established frameworks such as eco-design and cradle-to-cradle design to facilitate perpetual resource flows and reduce or minimize negative impacts across the triple-bottom-line.

5.4 This guide builds on research and industry practices to form a core standard to disseminate and operationalize circular product design principles. This guide is intended to provide guidance on circular product design for product designers, engineers, and policymakers.

5.5 The principles included in this guide are directed towards product designers considering product circularity across life-cycle stages.

5.6 The hierarchy of applying these principles could vary according to the specific context and on the circularity objectives of the practitioner.

5.7 While this guide primarily focuses on the potential benefits of circular product design, to understand trade-offs or unintended outcomes, the impacts of the design choices need to be reviewed holistically.

Subcomité:

E60.13

Volúmen:

04.12

Palabras clave:

circular economy; principles; product design; resource recovery; sustainability; sustainable development; sustainable manufacturing; sustainable material management;