Abstract
The manufacturing industry in the Nordic countries aims to include closing product and material loops to recover values in their circular economy strategies. Recirculating strategies for products and materials are required for existing products that are part of the stock and are also anticipated to be aligned with products designed for circularity and circular business models in the future. Options to capture value of discarded products are diverse and include reuse, remanufacturing and material recycling. The Circular Economy Integration in the Nordic Industry for enhanced sustainability and competitiveness (CIRCit) project developed a framework to guide decision makers in the industry on how to identify suitable treatments and subsequent use at the end of use or end of life of a product and how to select among different options. Factors considered in the assessment include technical feasibility, necessary efforts, networks of business partners, legal implications and overall sustainability aspects. Our empirical studies show great support for decision-makers in the value recovery of different products with different complexity levels. It is also concluded that the properties of products at their end of use are the main drivers behind selecting a proper recirculation strategy. This study contributes with an empirical evaluation and a consistent terminology framework for recirculation options. The general setup is relevant for the Nordic countries.
Highlights
Circular economy (CE) measures are generally proposed to reach sustainability goals and reduce climate impacts while emphasizing the conservation of finite resources, which are circulated in economic loops or substituted by renewable and biobased options where possible [1,2] An identified gap is to explicitly show how different CE concepts are applied in practice in a wider range of companies [1,3]
The categorization of recirculation strategies was introduced based on case examples from the literature and databases
Based on feedback from the participating industry, a cursory evaluation of legal aspects of recirculation strategies was incorporated as a mandatory element to address concerns regarding responsibility for recirculated products and the shipping of end-of-use products across national borders
Summary
Circular economy (CE) measures are generally proposed to reach sustainability goals and reduce climate impacts while emphasizing the conservation of finite resources, which are circulated in economic loops or substituted by renewable and biobased options where possible [1,2] An identified gap is to explicitly show how different CE concepts are applied in practice in a wider range of companies [1,3]. The CIRCit research project includes several focus areas: one addressing recirculation strategies, which is further elaborated here. Publications that focus on other aspects include circular product design [4], circular business models configuration [5] and digitization aspects [6]. A common systematizing tool (strategies scanner) was developed and previously presented at [7] to map and visualize companies’ opportunities in terms of circular strategies. Within the general strategies scanner, strategies to recirculate products and parts and strategies to recirculate materials were addressed as integral parts. These are displayed in context with links to other contributions to CE, such as the product development stage, which considers the utilization of secondary sources
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