Eco-design and eco-manufacturing consulting microenterprises as part of the circular economy strategy - role and risks

Manuela Roxana Dijmarescu

doi:10.47577/tssj.v14i1.2151

Abstract

Over the last decades, a high degree of importance was given to the sustainable development of our world. At European level, the European Union developed a series of standards and fiscal regulations in order to support the achievement of sustainable development goals. An important step is the transition from a linear economy to a circular economy and a primary role in this transition is played by the adaptation of design and manufacturing processes to modern environmental and energy efficiency standards. This process of transformation can be achieved either by an internal department working within the company or by a specialised third-party consulting company. The second option is preferable due to the fact that it does not require a further specialisation process for some employees in order to enable the company to develop a project. As a response to these market requirements, at a European level, within the Common Market, specialised consulting companies started to emerge and develop. This paper details the role and the risks a consulting services microenterprise active in the field of eco-design and eco-manufacturing has to assume in the current socio-economic context; particularly in regard to factors that facilitate the transition from a linear economy to a circular economy.

Highlights

In the general context of priorities at the European Union level in regard to combating and mitigating the effects of climate change, considering the necessity of partially coercive measures in the fiscal-legislative and regulatory field, a transformative macro-level adaptation of corporate planning policies is expected
ISSN: 2668-7798 www.techniumscience.com China and the United States. These measures are designed to limit or prevent access to the Common Market for products that do not comply with progressively stricter rules regarding energy efficiency, and the consumption of resources used in the production process and the impact of technological processes on the environment, in situations where manufacturing activities do not take place in the territory of the European Union
This paper aims to present and explain the role that these companies have in facilitating the transition from a linear economy to a circular economy, as well as the market risks and difficulties they face in the current economic context

Summary

Introduction

In the general context of priorities at the European Union level in regard to combating and mitigating the effects of climate change, considering the necessity of partially coercive measures in the fiscal-legislative and regulatory field, a transformative macro-level adaptation of corporate planning policies is expected. These fiscal-legislative measures target the exponential reduction of the pollutant emissions, and of the consumption and waste of resources, especially in industry, in order to reach climate neutrality by 2050 and to move from a linear economy to a circular economy [1]. The durability of a product and its ability to be repaired, recycled, and reused, as well as its components and materials, depend largely on the original design of the product [6, 7, 8] This connection determined the necessity to introduce eco-design methodology in the industrial process, as highlighted in a 2017 communique issued by the European Commission, underlining the importance of implementing the action plan for transitioning to the circular economy.

Trigger

Conclusions