Developing a circular design framework: Co-creation and validation of a circular product and service design tool

Sustainable products are at the core of the circular economy, which is gaining momentum in scientific, economic, and policy fields. However, existing research in the field of circular product design remains fragmented. The literature has generally tended to focus on material or resource efficiency, while other complex issues related to product ecosystem also exist, such as the needs of the ecosystem (non-human) and human user, circular challenge, and circular business model. By using a co-creation approach, this study aims to create and validate a circular product design framework (CD-Framework) and a self-assessment tool for circular product design (CD-Tool) that facilitates an understanding of how product circularity can be improved from the product ideation. The proposed CD-Framework consists of 10 interconnected categories: circular challenge; circular business model; production; digital fabrication technologies; materials; branding and communication for circularity; packaging, distribution and logistics; user; usage; and after usage. The CD-Tool was designed as a tool to aid product developers from various industry sectors in the self-assessment of the circularity of product design. We contribute to developing tools that accelerate integration of circularity into product design through product-level and ecosystem-level considerations.