Colloquia

Summary

As industries transition towards sustainability, circular design has emerged as a vital strategy for minimising waste, extending product lifespans, and complying with evolving regulations. This thesis explores how Benchmark Electronics can integrate circular economy principles into its product development processes to align with upcoming legislative frameworks and contribute to a more sustainable future.

At the heart of this research lies the question: How can Benchmark’s products be designed to be more circular? This study combines theoretical research, legislative analysis, and practical application to provide actionable insights for circular product design.

A case study on the redesign of a product related to Benchmark, serves as the practical foundation of this research. The redesign process incorporated modularity, ease of disassembly, material efficiency, extended product lifespan, upgradability, and more, demonstrating how existing products can be optimized for circularity while maintaining functionality and market viability.

Beyond the product redesign, this thesis introduces the Circular Potential to Action Tool (CPAT), a heuristic design tool developed to help Benchmark systematically assess and enhance the circularity of its products. The CPAT encompasses insights from multiple circular economy frameworks and assessment tools, offering an actionable approach to integrating circular strategies into product development. By facilitating decision-making, this tool enables designers and engineers to identify circular opportunities and implement actionable improvements across product lifecycles.

The findings of this thesis underscore the importance of multi-level integration in circular design, combining regulatory awareness, product-level interventions, and company-wide strategies.