A renewed recognition of the materiality of design in a circular economy: The case of bio-based plastics

Research output: Chapter in Book/Conference proceedings/Edited volumeChapterScientific

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

In this chapter we sketch the opportunities and challenges of designing products and materials that fit a circular economy, with a specific focus on bio-based plastics. We show that the often-used “butterfly” model of the circular economy, which distinguishes between a biocycle and a technocycle, is not very useful when we consider bio-based plastics from a design perspective. This leads us to propose an alternative framing of the circular economy with a limited number of recovery pathways. Based on this framing, we argue that the choice of a particular bio-based plastic always needs to be done on the basis of its properties as well as its recovery and end-of-life pathways, if we want to support a circular and sustainable economy. This is currently not a standard procedure in design. In addition, we argue that one of the main challenges we currently face is to educate designers about bio-based materials in all their complexity.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationMaterials Experience 2
Subtitle of host publicationExpanding Territories of Materials and Design
PublisherElsevier
Pages193-206
Number of pages14
ISBN (Electronic)978-0-12819244-3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2021

Keywords

  • Bio-based plastic
  • Biodegradation
  • Circular economy
  • Design
  • Recovery

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