Colloquia

Summary

This thesis is focused on developing a strong foundation for the upcoming e-bike project of mtrl, a Research and Development company based in the Netherlands. The current bicycle, the RCYL A, consists of 90% recyclable plastics. Although this is seen as a sustainable replacement for conventional bicycles, it still can be improved in terms of the Circular Economy (CE) principle. A thorough literature research gave insight into the field of CE, mainly focused on product design. It provided several aspects that were considered during the reflection of the RCYL A. This reflection determined the aspects to be improved, whilst also providing a benchmark of the state-of-the-art. From this literature research, the reflection and several discussions with the involved parties, the scope of the e-bike project was determined. The main aspects to improve, concerning the CE, are transportability and maintainability, yet other aspects have to be considered as well.

A subsystem of the RCYL A has been redesigned and validated to improve on the chosen aspects. This redesign improves significantly in terms of maintainability and transportability, whilst also considering other aspects, such as the production method and the benchmark.

The general process is described in a Circular Economy Design Framework which provides a step-by-step approach to research, reflect and redesign a product in terms of the CE. This is recommended for the remaining parts of the e-bike, yet also for other products that could benefit from a more sustainable design.