This study aims to develop an understanding of how circular economy should be implemented to result in sustainable development and to analyze the potential of one particular implementation to result in sustainable development. “The sustainable development way of implementing circular economy” is presented by understanding circular economy with system thinking and considering the factors affecting the implementation of circular economy. Interviews and text-analysis are conducted to analyze the character and potential of ReTuna, a reused items mall in Eskilstuna, to result in sustainable development. Results show circular economy should be implemented as a way of reasoning that can result in a systemic transformation of the economic system to result in eco-centric sustainability. Implementations that do not explicitly derive from a an understanding of circular economy as a new way of reasoning are despite this valuable due to a system’s character of interconnectedness. ReTuna is implemented as a set of practices and an organizational structure but it also demonstrates an honorable effort to change people’s perception of the human-nature relationship. It is concluded that way of implementation has to reflect and be synchronized with the aspiration behind implementing circular economy. ReTuna has potential to result in sustainability but does not yet.

Inspired by the way nature cycles waste in an ecosystem, the circular economy was developed as an alternative to the linear take-make-dispose model and designed to decouple economic growth from resource use. After developing a framework for what it means to be a business pursuing circularity, this thesis examines six different companies to explore the tension between the strategies and business models in theory and what business are implementing in practice today. This exploration continues with an in-depth analysis of the circular success of IKEA, finding that the gains from the circular economy for a large corporation are found within their own operations. With the company’s scale, IKEA is able to act as a transfer hub of technology and best practices, ultimately allowing the company to make a global impact.

This study and design concept explores the need for a change of the behaviour and recycling knowledge in Nybro Municipality, situated in Eastern Sweden.  The main aim of this study is to provide support for discussion and act as an inspiration for the future development of projects with participatory citizenship. Additionally, to invigorate the need for a sustainable and circular waste management to reach sustainable development.  The theoretical framework set up for this study focus on sustainable development, citizens’ behaviour and knowledge of recycling. The explorative research stage of the project is performed through several methods, including interviews with current waste management companies and Nybro Municipality’s Sustainability Department. Furthermore, a survey of the citizens of Nybro municipality, to investigate the behaviour and knowledge about recycling. Correspondingly, relevant secondary research and compulsory review of the context, waste management and circular economy in Sweden, but also the behaviour within recycling of the system users - citizens, is being examined. The project focuses on sorting and analysing the data and findings by using methods of several different visual thinking tools.  The outcome of the project is a proposal of a design concept to facilitate the recycling of waste for the citizens as the users. Moreover, to emphasize the need and importance of recycling our everyday waste materials. This project is not a solution-based project, but more widely to provide a basis for discussion and inspire.  The goal is to find a way that encourages citizens to recycle waste from products purchased in their daily living. A social design workshop, focusing on circular waste management and recycling behaviour, together with the citizens living in Nybro municipality, will be proposed and co-designed with the municipality’s sustainability department of Nybro Municipality.

Background: According to Webster et al. (2013, p. 4) “the idea of the circular economy is capturing the attention of businesses, academics and the next generation of entrepreneurs as a framework for re-designing the economy”. This can be traced back to growing evidence of environmental risks like ozone depletion, climate change, threats to biodiversity and changes in the nitrogen cycle (Geissdoerfer et al., 2017). Although the European economy still relies on a linear economic model, operating on a take-make-dispose basis (Rossé et al., 2016), circular business model have recently experienced a rapid growth and are perceived increasingly attractive by businesses (Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2017a). Research Question: How do individuals in a multi-national organization make sense of circular economy and their goal of transforming to a circular business? Purpose: Exploring how individuals in an organization make sense of the circular economy concept when pursuing the goal to transform to a circular business by 2030. Method: The research is an exploratory case study with empirical data collected through semi- structured interviews at the case company IKEA Conclusion: By establishing the circularity goal, the organization changes the ambiguity of circular economy to uncertainty for employees that enact it. The individuals are making sense of the circular economy concept triggered by uncertainty due to the missing practical approach defined in the strategy. There is no collective agreement if circular economy is mainly business- driven or sustainability-driven, but they establish collective sense on engaging in many local solutions of circular economy instead of choosing one global approach, representative for the concept of a circular economy. Conclusion: By establishing the circularity goal, the organization changes the ambiguity of circular economy to uncertainty for employees that enact it. The individuals are making sense of the circular economy concept triggered by uncertainty due to the missing practical approach defined in the strategy. There is no collective agreement if circular economy is mainly business- driven or sustainability-driven, but they establish collective sense on engaging in many local solutions of circular economy instead of choosing one global approach, representative for the concept of a circular economy.

Sustainability is a keyword in society today and industries have to contribute to reduce emissions and the use of virgin resources. Every year 90 000 ton old tires are gathered in Sweden. Today mostly used for energy recovery. End-of-life tires has been used in asphalt in the US for almost 50 years and is an effective way to utilize them. There are several possible advantages for rubberized asphalt: noise reduction, higher rutting resistance, increased durability, thinner layers etc. In Sweden, the rubberized asphalt has been tested in 25 different roads, where the Swedish Transport Administration have led the development. Commercially, the product have not yet been successful. There are several different studies for the product in Sweden, but nothing on the business side. The aim in this thesis was to develop a business model for the product on the Swedish market by finding key actors in the value chain, advantages and risks for the rubberized asphalt and studying different market segments. The study has two different research questions, Is there a need for a business model innovation for rubberized asphalt? and How can a business model be created for rubberized asphalt on the Swedish market and what will be the most important factors for establishing the business model? To answer the research questions, qualitative interviews were conducted with 15 different actors in the value chain. The result of the study presents; the value chain for the rubberized asphalt in Sweden, external forces in the industry, a business model and a proposed procurement model. The first question was evaluated and the answer was that business model innovation was needed for rubberized asphalt on the Swedish market, as well as product development and technical statements. The most important factors to penetrate the Swedish market were: spread the information of rubberized asphalt, find segments for market entry, process rubber granulate, handle the product correctly, push for changes in the procurement model and for actors in the value chain to work together. The results can serve as a tool for business model innovation and may be used for other sustainable and recycled products. The report also presents several practical contributions that can be of interest for the asphalt industry.

The government has made a choice to call a halt to climate change and has defined concrete milestones that everyone can use in practical terms, but the practical and knowledge side is still lacking within society. There is still no unambiguous approach for circular economy. Unfortunately, no manual is ready yet to take the steps towards 2050. The best advice to give is to start with awareness: making known to the general public. This step is a first step towards 100% circular economy. The greatest effect of circularity of a product must be realized in the design phase. Aspects such as maintenance, flexibility in use and adaptability, disassembly possibilities and the usability at end of life is determined by the design. The choice of materials what a product consists of is also important here. For this, the researcher sought a solution that supports these two important pillars. Circularity is a complex subject and there is a need to convert this complex language whereby this language becomes more intelligible to the daily users, architects, designers and product developers. Making circularity measurable, on the basis of product information from the supplier, the tool calculates the degree of circularity. The focus of the tool lies in the calculation of the impact of its materials and the amount of waste generated during the entire journey of the product. The results of the tool is named PICI© and can be compared with the certification techniques of today, except this one is circular-proof, while almost all of the certifications has been developed within a linear economy. Today's certificates will have to make room for the circularity certificates of the future. In addition, this study will also provide a direction for a circular methodology that will fully support the transition towards a circular service or product development. This research has the aim to make manufacturers, designers, architects or product developers aware what the impact of their product is, whereby the material-decision-making process will be striving for a fully circular  products and the re-use of the those materials.  This tool can motivate and make this impact of waste more visible. On top of that, this tool has a special focus on urban and architectural lighting, due to the collaboration with Spectrum advice and Design, in the Netherlands. Therefore, a case study is included within this study from Hydro Aluminum who supported this research with real-end data.

Allt fler företag går i dagsläget från en linjär till en cirkulär ekonomi med hjälp av implementering av hållbarhetsstrategier. I och med att allt fler företag börjar använda sig av en cirkulär ekonomi har inte alla områden hunnit utvecklats med det. Ett område som är outforskat är reparationsmaterial, som används av företag eller konsumenter som vill reparera deras kläder. I den här studien har tre reparationstejper som existerar på marknaden applicerats på skalmaterial för att studera och kartlägga vilken av dessa som har längst hållfasthet. Studien kommer även att behandla vilken av dessa reparationstejper som lämpar sig för en cirkulär ekonomi. Detta då företag ska kunna erbjuda en reparationstejp som går i enlighet med detta.   Reparationstejperna genomgick fyra olika tester för att testa dess vidhäftningsstyrka, dessa är tvätt-test, vidhäftningstest, dragprovning samt nötningstest. Resultaten utifrån dessa tester visade på att Gore-Tex var den reparationstejp som hade bäst hållfasthet på skalmaterialet. Däremot visade det sig att Tesa Eco Repair var mest lämpad för cirkulär ekonomi, även om Gore-Tex också visade sig kunna ingå i ett slutet system. Gorilla-tejpens vidhäftningsstyrka var bättre än Tesa Eco Repair men eftersom underlag saknas för att ta ställning till om den lämpar sig för cirkulär ekonomi eller inte, går det inte ta ställning till detta.   Denna studie ämnar att rikta sig till företag som vill implementera ett reparationskit eller undersöka vilka reparationsmöjligheter det kan tänkas finnas för både företag och konsumenter. Den kan även finnas som riktlinje för företag som vill erbjuda reparationstejper i sin verksamhet men även för produktutveckling av en reparationstejp som ingår i en cirkulär ekonomi. Den här studien kan spela en stor roll för samhället och företag. Detta då den ger riktlinjer som behövs tas för att följa med i den pågående trend vad det gäller cirkulär ekonomi och hållbar konsumtion. / In the world today, more companies go from a linear economy to a circular economy by implementing sustainability strategies. As more and more companies begin to use a circular economy, not all areas have developed with it. One area that is unexplored is repair material that companies and consumers use if they want to repair their clothes. In this study, three repair tapes that exist on the market Gore-Tex, Tesa Eco Repair, and Gorilla-tape were applied to shell material to examine and map which one of them is the strongest and most durable. This study is also going to discuss which one of the repair tapes is most suitable for a circular economy. This is because companies should be able to offer one repair tape that fits in an circular economy.   The repair tapes were examined through four different experiments to test their adhesion strength including: the laundry test, adhesion test, tensile testing, and abrasion test. The conclusions drawn from these tests showed that Gore-Tex was the strongest repair tape on the shell material. However, the tests also showed that Tesa Eco Repair was most suitable for a circular economy even though Gore-Tex proved to be part of a circular economy. The Gorilla-tape adhesive was stronger than Tesa Eco Repair but since there is no basis for determining whether it is suitable for circular economy or not, it can not be taken into account.   This study is directed to companies that want to implement a repair-kit or investigate what repair opportunities they have, both for companies and consumers. It will serve as a guideline for companies that want to offer repair services in their operation but also for product development of a repair program that can be successful in a circular economy. The study can play a major role for in society and company development as it will give them guidelines on the ongoing trend of circular economies and sustainable consumption.

This master thesis aims to create a user-friendly Excel-based tool tohelp the co-workers at Incoord, a technology consulting companywithin the construction business, to implement circular economy intheir projects. A literature study was done focusing on theconstruction business, circular economy and earlier implementedcircular projects and user-design experience. Interviews were heldwith the co-workers at Incoord to identify where and how circulareconomy can be implemented in the projects at Incoord. In addition,workshops and a case-group meeting were held with the co-workers toset up the requirement specifications for user-design experience andto encourage the co-workers to come up with circular solutions. All of this resulted in a framework that included knowledge aboutuser-design experience and questions encouraging circular solutionsin the projects at Incoord. The framework was used when the digitaltool was created in Excel. The tool was evaluated to make sure thatit met the requirement specifications. It resulted in a toolconsisting of four parts; the first focusing on circular solutionsthat can be made by Incoord themselves, the second advocated toexternal actors, the third focusing on promoting circular materialand the fourth calculating the carbon dioxide reduction whenreprocessing compared to making new materials. The different partscan be adjusted depending on which area of expertise the user isworking within. Points are collected depending on the answers in thedifferent parts, which gives the user a concluding result that showshow circular the current project can be.

In previous research, attention is given to the travel and translation of ideas in order to capture how ideas flow and by whom. External actors, so called carriers, promote certain ideas and discard others, further playing a significant part in the institutionalization of ideas. The multitude of different carriers, their different promotion techniques and interconnectedness call for the need to study them in relation and differentiation to one another. Through a qualitative content analysis of documents, interviews and videos, we present a case study on carriers promoting the current idea of a circular fashion system. The investigated carriers are consultants, media, academia, NGO/NPOs and gurus. Alongside the previously identified sequential and parallel modes of translation, we find carriers promoting the travel of an idea jointly. Among the carriers studied, the findings reveal evidence of (1) linkages through cross-referencing, and (2) collaboration through funding, assignment and co-writing. Coupling the notion of blurred boundaries between carriers with ecologies of translation, the study finds carriers situating in different contexts and constellations, forming hybrids and hierarchies. Providing such evidence of a more complex scenery, we argue that the landscape in which carriers promote an idea is best understood as constituting webs.

As the environmental footprint of humans continue s to grow, and the amount of easily available resources keeps dwindling, many countries and institutions have turned towards the concept of circular economy as a way of diminishing their impact on the environment. Based in the idea of closing the resource loop by reducing the need for new resources, increasing efficiency, and reusing resources that are already extracted, many efforts have gone towards transforming our sys tem towards a circular economy. Unfortunately, recycling, identified as a vital part of the move towards circular economy, has been found to be less than optimal in many countries, despite efforts to improve the system. This study examines methods of improving environmental and recycling behaviour in the context of a university setting, the Blåsenhus campus of Uppsala University. Identifying barriers to remove and incentives to apply through a series of focus groups, this study then runs a trial period wher e measures are implemented. These include ads on the campus’ monitors, as well as posters indicating the benefits of recycling, as well as the impacts of failing to do so, information sheets clearly indicating how to recycle the most commonly misplaced ite ms, and the movement of certain bins to make recycling easier to access in relation to the burnables bins. The findings of this study are that the combined use of barrier removal along with the implementation of incentives, can be beneficial to the rates at which waste is recycled.