Abstract
The Circular Economy aims to replace the current linear “cradle to grave” product life cycle approach with a more circular “cradle to cradle” approach which is driven by design or “circular design”. This is done by circulating the product components back at the end of life through circular design strategies such as reuse, repurpose, remanufacturing and recycling aiming to maintain as much of their embedded value as possible. For complex systems (e.g., Aircraft), the end of life is typically the decommissioning stage during which they are withdrawn from service. In this paper, we conduct a systematic literature review to synthesize the current approaches to solve the problem of decommissioning complex systems in the context of circular economy. We identify current practices and methods can be divided into reactive approaches, barriers and enablers towards a proactive approach, and tools to support a proactive approach. In addition, the review reveals that the problem of decommissioning can be approached from two perspectives: the product and the designer. Five dimensions are identified under these two perspectives. Under the product perspective, (1) Customized designing of complex system according to the local ecosystem, (2) Designing for inter industry repurposing and (3) Designing universal components. Under the designer perspective, (4) Guidelines for selecting decommissioning options for complex systems at the design stage and (5) Evolving designer thinking towards circular design.
