Mapping the landscape of circular design tools

Journal article, 2024

Circular design tools can help companies to move from linear to circular design practices and an increased uptake of such tools have potential to help realise the circular transition. Despite the existence of numerous circular design tools, companies often find it challenging to identify tools that align with their needs as the tool landscape is difficult to navigate. This paper offers a synthesized overview of 65 circular design tools that uniformly describes the tools’ main attributes. The tools are categorized into five families to make it easier to navigate the tool landscape and identify tools for specific needs. The findings offer a useful resource for the research community as well as companies seeking to e.g. design for value retention and extended product lifetimes. Implications for tool developers and practitioners are highlighted, advocating for more effective utilization of existing tools and the alignment of future tool development with circular design practices.