Design for circular economy

Design of solutions (products, services, functions, etc.) for different value chains has a very large impact on sustainable material flows. In addition to the economic, ecological and social footprints that the solutions leave behind during their life cycles, its design also affects the possibility of upgrades, reuse, repairs, maintenance, material recycling, etcetera.

In this theme area, the focus is on methodology for how products should be developed to contribute to circular economy. Methods and tools for early stage predictions of not only traditional function and performance properties, but also sustainability during the life cycle is om major importance. This information will be used to optimize the solution designs which require different types of digital twins. Integration of capacity for monitoring of different product properties will be an important boundary conditions for the development of circular products, e.g. to be able to update the associated digital twins. Through such monitoring, measures to maximize values ​​over the life cycle can also be planned for.