Fostering sustainability-oriented product innovation: A comprehensive framework to support product development for a circular economy

Although the Circular Economy (CE) is widely recognized as a fundamental strategy for addressing environmental challenges, its adoption remains limited. A key barrier to its implementation is the lack of effective tools to support product development aligned with CE principles. This study presents a comprehensive framework to support the product development process for a CE. Specifically, a decision tree is employed to quantitatively define product requirements necessary to achieve targeted economic and environmental performance. Design guidelines are then collected through a literature review and allocated to the corresponding phases of product development, enabling practitioners to meet the defined product requirements. By integrating quantitative product requirements with actionable design recommendations, this framework provides a practical tool to align product development with the CE paradigm and drive sustainability-oriented product innovation.