A master thesis from Aalborg University
Bridging the Circular Economy gap from theory to practical application: A Case Study on the Development & Integration of the Circular Product Development Tool
[Brobygning af cirkulær økonomi teori til praktisk anvendelse: En casestudie om udvikling og integration af 'Circular Product Development Tool']
Author(s)
Term
4. Term
Education
Publication year
2024
Submitted on
2024-11-07
Pages
37 pages
Abstract
On a global scale, we have seen discussions, debates and articles on Circular Economy (CE) almost triple from 2019 to 2024, while circularity indicators such as the global secondary material use (recycled, reused, or repurposed materials) have dropped from 9.1% in 2018 to 7.2% in 2023, a 21% decline over 5 years (Circle Economy Foundation, 2024). Despite CE rapidly becoming an industry ideal, companies continually complain about the hardships they have in integrating and getting real use out of the CE tools on the market. The reasons for these integration barriers are wide and complex and include everything from regulatory roadblocks, organisational resistance, knowledge translation barriers, infrastructure and technical challenges. This thesis follows the co-development and integration process of the Circular Product Development Tool (CPDT) that explores these barriers and focuses on the line between generalisation and customisation when it comes to the scalability and usability of a CE tool. The tool was made in collaboration with Anthesis Netherlands, a consultancy firm focused on sustainable transitions and carbon offsets and was co-developed and implemented at Contour Advanced Systems (CAS), a manufacturer specialising in modular data centres and intralogistics systems. This study analyses the results of the co-development process used in the CPDT project, its workshops, meetings, and Design Games to identify challenges, strategies and opportunities for scaling circularity in manufacturing. Through these analyses, it was found that participatory design and strategic use of boundary objects were crucial in overcoming organisational resistance and finding a beneficial line of the need to customise the tool. The result of the CPDT project and this paper is a scalable, commercially viable consultancy service that offers sector-wide learning and customised tools to transition the manufacturing industry as well as a comprehensive look into the currently presenting barriers to CE implementation in the industry.
Keywords
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