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Resource recovery from post-consumer waste : important lessons for the upcoming circular economy

Singh, Jagdeep LU orcid and Ordoñez, Isabel (2016) In Journal of Cleaner Production 134. p.342-353
Abstract

A circular economy has been proposed as a sustainable alternative to our current linear economic system, mainly by recirculating material resources for new product development. To understand resource recirculation in practice, this paper analyses over 50 examples of products developed from discarded materials, categorising them into the recovery routes described in the circular economy literature. The examples were obtained during interviews with waste management professionals and designers who had developed products with discards. Practical challenges to implementing a circular economy were identified based on the example categorisation and comments from the interviews. The main difference observed was that the examples mostly... (More)

A circular economy has been proposed as a sustainable alternative to our current linear economic system, mainly by recirculating material resources for new product development. To understand resource recirculation in practice, this paper analyses over 50 examples of products developed from discarded materials, categorising them into the recovery routes described in the circular economy literature. The examples were obtained during interviews with waste management professionals and designers who had developed products with discards. Practical challenges to implementing a circular economy were identified based on the example categorisation and comments from the interviews. The main difference observed was that the examples mostly recirculate resources to make different types of products, whereas a circular economy requires manufacturing companies to take back their own products to secure their material resources. This is partly because in practice the material collection system in place is waste management, rather than manufacturing-centred take-back systems. A revised model for recovery routes in society in which waste management is allocated an important role in facilitating material recirculation is therefore presented. The study highlights that current product design is facing a new challenge of anticipating social, economic and environmental challenges to realise the goals of a circular economy.

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author
and
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Circular economy, Post-consumer waste, Product design, Product study, Re-manufacturing, Resource recovery
in
Journal of Cleaner Production
volume
134
pages
12 pages
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • scopus:84969975684
ISSN
0959-6526
DOI
10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.12.020
language
English
LU publication?
no
id
034d5500-d8ae-495e-bdff-fa5a480d2ecc
date added to LUP
2018-06-23 14:08:59
date last changed
2022-04-25 07:51:54
@article{034d5500-d8ae-495e-bdff-fa5a480d2ecc,
  abstract     = {{<p>A circular economy has been proposed as a sustainable alternative to our current linear economic system, mainly by recirculating material resources for new product development. To understand resource recirculation in practice, this paper analyses over 50 examples of products developed from discarded materials, categorising them into the recovery routes described in the circular economy literature. The examples were obtained during interviews with waste management professionals and designers who had developed products with discards. Practical challenges to implementing a circular economy were identified based on the example categorisation and comments from the interviews. The main difference observed was that the examples mostly recirculate resources to make different types of products, whereas a circular economy requires manufacturing companies to take back their own products to secure their material resources. This is partly because in practice the material collection system in place is waste management, rather than manufacturing-centred take-back systems. A revised model for recovery routes in society in which waste management is allocated an important role in facilitating material recirculation is therefore presented. The study highlights that current product design is facing a new challenge of anticipating social, economic and environmental challenges to realise the goals of a circular economy.</p>}},
  author       = {{Singh, Jagdeep and Ordoñez, Isabel}},
  issn         = {{0959-6526}},
  keywords     = {{Circular economy; Post-consumer waste; Product design; Product study; Re-manufacturing; Resource recovery}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{10}},
  pages        = {{342--353}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Journal of Cleaner Production}},
  title        = {{Resource recovery from post-consumer waste : important lessons for the upcoming circular economy}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.12.020}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.12.020}},
  volume       = {{134}},
  year         = {{2016}},
}