Papers

61,005 results
|
Article Tier 2

Circular Product Practices for a Post-Plastic Transition

This study examines how designers can support a post-plastic transition by identifying circular product practices, combining design theory with practical action frameworks to define the competencies and strategies needed for responsible polymeric material use within circular economy models.

2025 DIID
Article Tier 2

Regenerative Fashion Systems: Redefining Circularity in the Fashion and Textiles Industry

Researchers reviewed the limitations of circular fashion models and proposed a regenerative fashion systems framework that goes beyond waste reduction to actively restore biodiversity, rebuild soil health, and integrate nature-based solutions across design and supply chains using materials such as mycelium leather and algae-based fibers.

2026 Circular Economy and Sustainability
Article Tier 2

Upcycling Systems Design, Developing a Methodology through Design

This paper proposes a new methodology for upcycling systems design that bridges circular economy business models with sustainable material innovation, aiming to reduce the environmental impact of products by integrating ecological considerations early in the design process.

2022 Sustainability 11 citations
Article Tier 2

Design framework for circular and sustainable packaging design

Researchers developed a novel packaging design framework integrating circularity and sustainability (C&S) criteria using literature review, expert brainstorming, and field visits. The framework addresses conflicts between sustainability and functional requirements and provides practical iterative strategies for packaging designers.

2025 Proceedings of the Design Society
Article Tier 2

Regenerative Approach to Design Sustainable Tourism Experiences for Aquatic Ecosystems

This review examines regenerative design approaches for sustainable tourism experiences in aquatic ecosystems, drawing on ongoing research and didactic activities at the School of Design and Department of Design at Politecnico di Milano. The paper argues that hospitality spaces designed with regenerative principles can reconnect guests with nature while actively restoring aquatic ecosystems, shifting tourism from extractive to restorative practices.

2025
Article Tier 2

Circularity in Practice: Review of Main Current Approaches and Strategic Propositions for an Efficient Circular Economy of Materials

This review proposes a structured framework for classifying circular economy strategies — including reuse, remanufacturing, recycling, and biological cycles — and evaluates their current adoption and barriers to scaling toward genuinely circular material flows.

2022 Sustainability 24 citations
Article Tier 2

Research on Application of Environmental Protection Concept in Modern Product Design

This paper explores how principles of environmental sustainability are being integrated into modern product design, examining how green design concepts can reduce ecological impact while meeting consumer needs. The analysis calls for applying low-carbon, circular economy values throughout the product development process.

2023 Highlights in Art and Design
Article Tier 2

Recrafting textile futures: Caring and repairing as a way to design

This study examines the textile and clothing supply chain as an extractive linear system embedded in a growth-oriented economic model, and explores how caring and repairing practices can support a transition toward reparative, circular textile futures. The paper argues that eco-modern innovation alone is insufficient and that sustainable textile design requires repositioning toward longer time horizons and degrowth-aligned approaches.

2023 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Recirculation: A New Concept to Drive Innovation in Sustainable Product Design for Bio-Based Products

This paper introduces a 'recirculation' framework for designing bio-based products that maximizes resource efficiency and minimizes waste throughout a product's life cycle. While bio-based materials offer a sustainable alternative to petroleum plastics, the authors argue that sustainable design principles must be built in from the start to maximize their environmental benefit.

2016 Molecules 52 citations
Review Tier 2

A Review of the Roots of Ecological Engineering and its Principles

This review traces the historical roots and guiding principles of ecological engineering, a multidisciplinary field focused on designing sustainable ecosystems and restoring degraded natural habitats. The study highlights how ecological engineering integrates scientific knowledge with practical applications to address environmental challenges including pollution and habitat loss.

2023 Journal of Ecological Engineering 8 citations
Article Tier 2

The Right-to-repair Movement and Sustainable Design Implications: a Focus on Three Industrial Sectors

This paper is not about microplastics; it examines the right-to-repair movement across consumer electronics, biomedical devices, and the clothing industry, with recommendations for more repairable and sustainable product design.

2023 Proceedings of the Design Society 7 citations
Article Tier 2

Nature-Based Solution and Regenerative Circular System Design towards Agricultural Land Management Bioremediation: A Review

This review examines nature-based solutions and regenerative circular system design as approaches to agricultural land bioremediation in the context of Indonesia's post-pandemic recovery, situating them within a broader framework that also addresses microplastic pollution and other environmental stressors. Researchers found that integrating circular economy principles with ecological restoration strategies offers promise for sustainable agricultural land management.

2022 Penerbit BRIN eBooks
Article Tier 2

Bio-based plastics in a circular economy: A review of recovery pathways and implications for product design

Researchers reviewed how bio-based plastics — made from renewable plant sources — can be recovered and recycled at end-of-life, finding that the feasibility of eight different recovery methods depends heavily not just on plastic chemistry but on how products are designed, and offering guidance for designers to improve recyclability.

2023 Resources Conservation and Recycling 34 citations
Article Tier 2

The Persistence of Technology:

This study examined the repair movement as a social and environmental practice, exploring how repair cafes and online platforms frame fixing objects as a form of activism against capitalist consumption models and a pathway toward sustainability.

2021 transcript Verlag eBooks 5 citations
Review Tier 2

A review of nature-based solutions for resource recovery in cities

This review examines nature-based solutions for resource recovery in cities, focusing on technologies that use microorganisms and ecological processes to shift urban systems from linear resource sinks toward more circular and sustainable models.

2020 Blue-Green Systems 92 citations
Article Tier 2

Circular Plastics Economy: Redesigning Technology and Reimagining Society

This book examines the concept of a circular plastics economy, arguing that technical redesign of materials must be paired with societal transformation to address plastic waste at scale. The authors critique current approaches and propose a more integrated vision combining innovation with behavioral and governance change.

2023 Transactions of the National Academy of Science and Technology 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Circular Economy and Sustainable Rural Development

This review examines waste management challenges in rural communities worldwide and the application of circular economy principles to rural contexts, identifying barriers to sustainable resource use and recommending policy and community-level interventions to reduce rural waste generation and improve material recovery.

2023 Sustainability 19 citations
Article Tier 2

Leveraging Insights from Unique Artifacts for Creating Sustainable Products

This paper examines how the design principles found in unique historical artifacts can inspire sustainable manufacturing approaches within a circular economy. Designing products for longevity, repairability, and end-of-life recyclability can reduce plastic waste and the microplastics generated from product disposal.

2023 Lecture notes in mechanical engineering
Article Tier 2

Resource conservation by means of lightweight design and design for circularity—A concept for decision making in the early phase of product development

This paper developed a decision-making framework to identify synergies and conflicts between lightweight design and design for circularity in product development, helping manufacturers navigate trade-offs in resource conservation.

2023 Resources Conservation and Recycling 24 citations
Article Tier 2

Rebirth: An Exploration of Circular Fashion

This review examines the concept of circular fashion as a response to fast fashion's unsustainable practices, critically evaluating how greenwashing has emerged as a mechanism to monetize eco-initiatives without genuine environmental benefit. The paper analyzes case studies of circular fashion brands and proposes criteria for distinguishing authentic circular economy practices from superficial marketing claims.

2024 The Boller Review 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Redefining Ecological Engineering in the Context of Circular Economy and Sustainable Development

This conceptual paper proposed a redefined framework for ecological engineering grounded in circular economy principles, arguing that engineering interventions in natural systems should aim to close material loops and enhance ecosystem services rather than simply solving pollution problems after the fact.

2021 Circular Economy and Sustainability 34 citations
Article Tier 2

Regenerative agriculture in Europe : An overview paper on the state of knowledge and innovation in Europe

This overview report examines the state of knowledge and innovation around regenerative agriculture (RegenAg) in Europe, comparing it to agroecology, conservation agriculture, and organic farming. The authors find that RegenAg is most distinctively defined by its outcomes rather than specific practices, and recommend establishing an EU-wide indicator system to measure those outcomes while treating RegenAg as a set of objectives rather than prescribed measures.

2023 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Strategies for Dealing with Substances of Concern in Product Design – a Review of Five Cases

This review examined design strategies for dealing with substances of concern in products, covering approaches to substitute, minimize, or eliminate hazardous chemicals throughout the product lifecycle. The authors identified regulatory frameworks and practical design tools to guide manufacturers toward safer material choices.

2024 Circular Economy and Sustainability
Article Tier 2

System innovation and life cycle thinking in packaging value chain: the circularity of plastics.

This paper examines the role of circular economy principles in reducing plastic packaging waste, noting that despite existing recycling systems, plastics remain pervasive environmental contaminants. The authors argue that redesigning packaging systems for recyclability and reducing over-packaging are essential steps to address microplastic pollution at its source.

2020 AMS Dottorato Institutional Doctoral Theses Repository (University of Bologna) 2 citations