The role of design as a barrier to and enabler of the circular economy

The development of a Circular Economy for products is being encouraged to reduce waste and conserve resources. Development is currently limited however and some research discovered that business and policy makers see the main barriers are cultural and market-based and lack of legislation rather than technological / design based. ‘Design’ is doing or planning something with a specific purpose in mind and therefore designed artefacts, services, systems and strategies can be transformative. In this chapter we discuss the role and importance of design as both a barrier to and an enabler of the Circular Economy and propose that design and technology are equally as important as social and financial factors. We consider the power of Design and its influence on Linear and Circular Economies in general and then with specific reference to three real world case studies; we also discuss the impact of different technologies on Circular practice and conclude that the Circular Economy is dependent on the integration of design, technology, social and economic criteria.