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Circular products: the balance between sustainability and excessive margins in design

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 May 2024

Arindam Brahma ,
Sophie I. Hallstedt ,
David C. Wynn  and
Ola Isaksson
Arindam Brahma*
Affiliation:
Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden
Sophie I. Hallstedt
Affiliation:
Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden
David C. Wynn
Affiliation:
University of Auckland, New Zealand
Ola Isaksson
Affiliation:
Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden
*
brahma@chalmers.se

Abstract

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As the world deals with climate change, it is crucial that new products are designed to be more sustainable. Product design strategies which conform to the Circular Economy principles have recently gained attention, which promote sustainability and resource efficiency. However, such strategies require careful consideration of uncertainties and the ways to mitigate them, e.g. by using margins. The pursuit of circularity can inadvertently lead to overdesign as designers strive to mitigate elevated risks, thereby making a product less sustainable. In this paper, we explore this balance.

Keywords

sustainable designproduct designcircular economymarginuncertainty
Type
Design for Sustainability
Information
Proceedings of the Design Society , Volume 4: DESIGN 2024 , May 2024 , pp. 1199 - 1208
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NCCreative Common License - ND
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work.
Copyright
The Author(s), 2024.

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