Implementation of Circular Design Principles in Industrial Product Development
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55845/IRVU6231T2026Keywords:
Industrial Ecology, Circular Economy, Design for Circularity, Circular Design Principles, Product development process, Product DesignAbstract
The transition to a Circular Economy is a key driver of sustainable development and requires the design of
circular products, services and business models at the industrial level. However, current product design and
Circular Economy approaches often lack holistic integration from the strategic to the operational level, limiting
the full implementation of circular strategies. This paper addresses the urgent need for an integrated approach
that makes general circular economy guidelines fully operational by providing detailed design principles to
optimize circularity and sustainability outcomes throughout the product life cycle, from raw material sourcing
to end-of-life. Because the practical implementation of circularity in industrial product development processes
is not a relevant subject of current research and publications in the circularity domain, this paper conceptualizes
a comprehensive Design for Circularity approach. By demonstrating the interaction between Circular
Economy Business Models, Ecodesign Approaches, and specific product life cycle intensities, this study
introduces a decision support method tailored to industrial product development processes. The key result of
this study is a proposed solution list, presenting circular design principles in a structured solution matrix. This
matrix provides tailored practical guidelines which are directly applicable in industrial product development.
By operationalizing circularity for industrial design processes, this paper not only addresses an existing
research gap, but also provides a comprehensive decision support tool for circular design. Moreover, this
approach enables the quantitative assessment of circular solution paths from strategic planning down to the
product structure level, thus promoting the effective implementation of circularity in industrial practice.
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