Fostering sustainability-oriented product innovation: A comprehensive framework to support product development for a circular economy

Fostering sustainability-oriented product innovation: A comprehensive framework to support product development for a circular economy

Luigi PANZA, Giulia BRUNO, Paolo CHIABERT

Abstract. Although the Circular Economy (CE) is widely recognized as a fundamental strategy for addressing environmental challenges, its adoption remains limited. A key barrier to its implementation is the lack of effective tools to support product development aligned with CE principles. This study presents a comprehensive framework to support the product development process for a CE. Specifically, a decision tree is employed to quantitatively define product requirements necessary to achieve targeted economic and environmental performance. Design guidelines are then collected through a literature review and allocated to the corresponding phases of product development, enabling practitioners to meet the defined product requirements. By integrating quantitative product requirements with actionable design recommendations, this framework provides a practical tool to align product development with the CE paradigm and drive sustainability-oriented product innovation.

Keywords
Product Development, Product Design, Product Lifecycle, Product Lifecycle Management, Circular Economy

Published online 9/10/2025, 9 pages
Copyright © 2025 by the author(s)
Published under license by Materials Research Forum LLC., Millersville PA, USA

Citation: Luigi PANZA, Giulia BRUNO, Paolo CHIABERT, Fostering sustainability-oriented product innovation: A comprehensive framework to support product development for a circular economy, Materials Research Proceedings, Vol. 57, pp 493-501, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21741/9781644903735-58

The article was published as article 58 of the book Italian Manufacturing Association Conference

Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.

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