Circular economy assessment tool for end of life product recovery strategies

Yohannes A Alamerew,Daniel Brissaud

doi:10.1007/s13243-018-0064-8

Abstract

Circular Economy (CE) aims to maintain the value of products, components, materials, and resources in the economy for as long as possible. Current end of life (EoL) product circularity decision-making methods are focused on technical and economic factors neglecting other crucial areas such as legislative pressure and customer demand, which are pertinent in the decision-making process. This paper presents a decision-making method to evaluate end of life product circularity alternatives at strategic level. A Product Recovery Multi-Criteria Decision Tool (PR-MCDT) is proposed to evaluate product circularity strategies from an integrated point of view, i.e. by simultaneously taking into account technical, economic, environmental, business, and societal aspects. The paper also identifies key end of life decision-making factors to assess product recovery strategies. An illustrative example is presented and discussed to show the applicability of the tool for the selection of product recovery options. A PR-MCDT is used at the senior/middle management level to ensure strategic decisions, which then promote success of the company.

Highlights

The global crisis in resource scarcity, population growth and climate change impacts are placing pressure to ditch the traditional “Make-Use-Dispose” economic model and adopt “make, use, return” as our collective mantra by joining the circular economy
The implementation of extended producer responsibility (EPR) in new governmental legislation, together with the growing environmental and economic concern, demands that original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to take care of their products after they have been discarded by the consumer [18, 41]
We proposed a general product recovery multi-criteria decision tool (PR-MCDT) to evaluate product circularity strategies at strategic level

Summary

Introduction

The global crisis in resource scarcity, population growth and climate change impacts are placing pressure to ditch the traditional “Make-Use-Dispose” economic model and adopt “make, use, return” as our collective mantra by joining the circular economy. The circular economy moves away from the traditional “take-make-dispose” economic model to one that is regenerative by design [12, 13]. Circular economy aims to facilitate an effective flow of resources, keeping products, components and materials at their highest value at all times through the extension of product life times by repair, recondition and remanufacture as well as closing of resource cycles through recycling and related strategies [4]. Product recovery has become increasingly important towards transitioning to a circular economy [2]. The implementation of extended producer responsibility (EPR) in new governmental legislation, together with the growing environmental and economic concern, demands that original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to take care of their products after they have been discarded by the consumer [18, 41]

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Methods

Conclusion