Designing for circularity: characterizing circular, green, and sustainable products in the context of mass customization

In the looming paradigm shift from linear to circular economy (CE) the road map for companies is fraught with challenges to integrate circular targets into business strategy. The transition to a circular model requires the company to upskill and/or reskill additional capabilities for transiting to a production model able to close the loop. Research on CE agrees that the functionality of circular models can be effective only if the products and services are designed for circularity. The transition to circularity is especially challenging for those companies that combine high performance in product customization with high performance in cost, delivery, and quality (mass customization) while integrating sustainability principles into businesses (green management) in looming circular targets. The present study addresses circular targets with attention to product design to support mass customizers in dealing with the challenges of combining MC with CE models. More concretely, the study focuses on the characteristics of circular products while providing discernment into green versus sustainable product characteristics. The discernment of characteristics for each product type can support companies that adopt MC in identifying what characteristics are required for taking a product to full circularity and those products from their offering (if any) that are the likeliest candidates for moving from green and/or sustainable to circular to prioritize product (re) design accordingly.