Circular Material Library. An Innovative Tool to Design Circular Economy

Abstract

Circular economy requires re-thinking and re-designing of products and services to enable product reuse, recycling and cascading. The use of secondary materials is an essential part of circular economy and it is in a central role in EU’s action plans. This paper examines, how a Circular Material Library can be used as tool of user oriented design to promote regional circular economy, innovation and competencies in companies. The Circular Material Library differs from the existing material libraries in that it will focus on available recycled materials. Due to the increased understanding of materials, new symbiosis products and industrial symbiosis networks can be created. Especially SME’s would benefit from this public tool.