Design for transition to a circular economy

Abstract

There are problems and challenges in transition to a circular economy in China. The challenges may vary from micro scope to macro scope: the micro scope, that of individual behavior, relates to the consumption habits in one’s everyday life; the meso scope, that of groups where the individual may still have some influence, involves the companies and organizations with their ways of producing and delivering their products and services; the macro scope, that of ecosystem, which means seeing the natural domain and human society as a whole system. Alternative to the government-oriented reform, companies should take the lead in the transition from bottom-up. There are catalysts needed to get companies change. Design, with its various capabilities, could provide “activation energies”.