The role of product design in circular economy business models

Abstract

Circular economy business models have undoubtedly become a hot topic nowadays both in academia and among industrial practitioners and companies. In this paper, we focus on the product design practices that can be conceived in circular economy business models along two major dimensions: (i) the value network, i.e. the ways through which companies interact with suppliers and reorganize their own internal activities, and (ii) the customer value proposition and interface, i.e. the implementation of the circularity concept in proposing value to customers. Therefore, a theoretical framework of product design practices for circular economy business models is proposed and tested on a case study of an Italian manufacturing company.17-20 June 201