We can't find the internet
Attempting to reconnect
Something went wrong!
Hang in there while we get back on track
Papers
61,005 resultsShowing papers similar to Recirculation: A New Concept to Drive Innovation in Sustainable Product Design for Bio-Based Products
ClearBio-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.
Smart Material Choice: The Importance of Circular Design Strategy Applications for Bio-Based Food Packaging Preproduction and End-of-Life Life Cycle Stages
This review examined circular design strategies for bio-based food packaging materials, finding that integrating lifecycle thinking into material selection and packaging design significantly reduces environmental impact, and that bio-based plastics can contribute to a circular economy if end-of-life infrastructure supports proper composting or recycling.
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.
Bio-based plastics – a sustainable solution to plastic pollution
This review outlines the production, properties, and sustainability potential of bio-based plastics derived from renewable or recycled raw materials, arguing they can form part of a circular economy with lower carbon footprints than conventional petroleum-based plastics.
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.
Towards a Circular Economy of Plastics: An Evaluation of the Systematic Transition to a New Generation of Bioplastics
This review evaluates the transition from petroleum-based plastics to bioplastics within a circular economy framework, assessing the sustainability, production challenges, and environmental trade-offs of current bioplastic alternatives.
Economia Circular E Desenvolvimento Sustentável: Compostabilidade, Biodegradação E Inovação Em Biopolímeros E Compósitos Renováveis Para Aplicações Estruturais, Agrícolas E Embalagens
This review paper summarizes research on new plant-based plastics that can break down naturally in the environment, unlike regular plastics made from oil. These eco-friendly materials could replace traditional plastic in food packaging and farming, potentially reducing the tiny plastic particles that end up in our food and water. However, the technology still needs improvements and better waste management systems before these biodegradable plastics can widely replace regular plastics.
Realising the circular bioeconomy
This policy paper examines how the bioeconomy and circular economy concepts can work together to reduce waste and environmental impact, including from plastic production. Moving toward bio-based, circular systems is part of the long-term solution to the plastic pollution problem.
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.
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.
A Circular Economy of Plastics: A vision of redesigning plastics value chains
This discussion paper outlines a vision for a circular plastics economy in which plastics are designed for reuse, recycling, and bio-based feedstocks rather than single use and disposal. A true circular economy for plastics would dramatically reduce the amount that fragments into microplastics in the environment.
From Circularity to Spirality: An Integrated, Systems-Level Approach to Address the Plastics Problem
This paper introduces the concept of spirality as a more realistic alternative to perfect circular recycling of plastics, acknowledging that plastic quality inevitably degrades with each recycling cycle. Rather than focusing on a single health or environmental finding, it proposes a systems-level framework combining materials science, life cycle assessment, and economics to guide better recycling strategies. Reducing overall plastic waste through smarter design and tiered recycling could lower the amount of microplastic pollution entering the environment.
Socio-economic Importance of Biomaterials in the Transition to the Circular Economy Model
Researchers examined the socio-economic role of biomaterials in transitioning economies toward the circular economy model, finding that substituting conventional plastics with bio-based materials can reduce waste accumulation while meeting EU sustainable development targets for 2030.
Sustainable Management of Organic Waste and Recycling for Bioplastics: A LCA Approach for the Italian Case Study
Researchers used life cycle assessment to evaluate the environmental trade-offs of collecting organic waste for biodegradable plastic production in Italy, finding that the system could reduce fossil resource use but that impacts depended heavily on collection efficiency and the end-of-life pathway chosen.
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.
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.
First Steps Toward Sustainable Circular Uses of Chemicals: Advancing the Assessment and Management Paradigm
This article advances a framework for sustainable circular use of chemicals, proposing updated assessment and management approaches to reduce chemical hazards while enabling circularity in industrial and consumer product systems.
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.
Bioplastics in the circular bioeconomy: Production pathways, biodegradation mechanisms, and environmental implications
This comprehensive review examines how bioplastics — plastics made from renewable biological sources — fit into a circular economy, covering how they are produced, how microorganisms break them down, and the environmental risks when degradation is incomplete. A key concern is that even bio-based plastics can form microplastics if they do not fully degrade in real-world conditions like marine or soil environments, meaning that simply switching to bioplastics does not automatically solve the microplastic pollution problem.
Transitioning Responsibly Toward a Circular Bioeconomy: Using Stakeholder Workshops to Reveal Market Dependencies
This paper reflects on stakeholder engagement processes for transitioning to circular bioeconomy models, finding that workshops can reveal important market dependencies but struggle to simultaneously achieve normative and co-design goals. Circular economy approaches are key to reducing plastic waste and microplastic generation.
Developing Bioderived CO2-Responsive Polymers as Alternatives to Petroleum-derived Polymers
Researchers examined the development of bioderived, CO2-responsive polymers as sustainable alternatives to petroleum-derived plastics, using life cycle assessment principles and green chemistry frameworks to guide material design. The work addresses the environmental harms of petroleum-based plastic production and low recycling rates, proposing bio-based responsive polymers as a route toward materials with reduced environmental impact across their full lifecycle.
Minimizing the environmental impacts of plastic through eco-design
Researchers developed a sustainability metric for eco-designing plastic products with low environmental persistence by integrating the environmental degradation rate of plastics into established material selection frameworks. The approach allows designers to compare materials on both functional performance and environmental persistence using material property indices.
An Examination of Microplastics: Environmental Impact, Sustainability, and Recyclability Innovation
This paper examined the environmental impact of microplastics, sustainability implications of current plastic use, and recycling options to address the plastic pollution crisis. It called for a transition toward circular economy approaches that reduce primary plastic production and increase recycled content.
A Review on Replacing Food Packaging Plastics with Nature-Inspired Bio-Based Materials
Researchers reviewed bio-based materials inspired by nature as sustainable alternatives to petroleum-based food packaging plastics. The study highlights that while conventional plastic packaging is effective for food preservation, its environmental impact has driven research into biodegradable and compostable alternatives that could reduce plastic waste and microplastic generation.