The Role of Design in a Circular Economy

🌱 What role does design play in a circular economy?

Circular design incorporates considerations for making products that are in line with the principles of the circular economy.[i] This is done by analyzing the full lifecycle and the end placement of the product already in the design phase, and by designing products to last.

🌱 What are the so-called “Rs”?

The circular economy is sometimes described as the economy of “Rs”. It is an economy built on the principles of refusing, rethinking, reducing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing or renovating, remanufacturing, repurposing, recycling, recovering, and regenerating.[ii] In a circular economy, there is no waste. Everything is reused and nothing is lost — just like in nature. Notably, the circular economy is not just about recycling, because recycling alone is not enough. Waste can be recycled, but it is better still if it is never even created to begin with — or at least, that significantly less is created.

🌱 What role does the design phase play?

The design phase defines the characteristics of a product as well as the possibilities of its lifecycle. Waste generation, pollution, and destruction of wildlife for resource extraction do not happen by accident, they are the result of design decisions.[iii] In the early design phase, it is crucial to consider the needs behind the designs created and the impacts the design will have during its life. A key question to reflect upon is whether the products and services are solving real problems and generating long-term value for the users, society, and ecosystems. We have already extracted more than a sustainable amount of our natural resources,[iv] and the use of all materials should be very carefully considered.

🌱 What do circular business models look like?

Circular design extends to considering business models to create customer paths that are not built around linear consumption. One example of a circular business model is offering products as services, or more broadly speaking shifting over to a service-based economy.[v] Many products are, by nature, such that they are only needed very rarely, in which case designing them for a community instead of merely for an individual use case may be more suitable anyway. By designing products, services, business models, and environments in line with circular economy principles, the economy and our surroundings can better support people, the planet, and even businesses.[vi]

This post has been adapted from a newsletter written by Saskia Tykkyläinen and Christine Nikander for a collaboration between Palsa & Pulk and The E-Waste Column. The newsletter titled “How can we design a circular economy?” was originally published in both “The Just Transition Newsletter” and “The E-Waste Newsletter”.

[i] https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/topics/circular-design

[ii] https://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/accelerating-the-circular-economy; https://www.circularise.com/blogs/r-strategies-for-a-circular-economy#:~:text=Enter%20the%2010%20R%2DStrategies,R8%20Recycle%20and%20R9%20Recover.

[iii] https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/topics/circular-design/overview?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw88yxBhBWEiwA7cm6pUPlX4mpJgqwVRH9qiRzoa_jkhDmJFpIW6buytyX_LwQVvogXTAZlBoCYqgQAvD_BwE

[iv] https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/jan/31/raw-materials-extraction-2060-un-report

[v] https://www.circularity-gap.world/2024

[vi] https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/topics/circular-design/overview?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw88yxBhBWEiwA7cm6pUPlX4mpJgqwVRH9qiRzoa_jkhDmJFpIW6buytyX_LwQVvogXTAZlBoCYqgQAvD_BwE