Circular economy is a promising approach towards maximizing value by increasing resource productivity, enhancing energy efficiency, lowering resource consumption and decreasing waste. The CIRCit research project aims to develop science‐based tools and approaches, in close collaboration with companies.
CIRCit aims to enable the Nordic industry to:
1. Understand the overall potential for CE implementation.
2. Investigate and conceptualize circular business models.
3.Develop circular products, services and solutions, based on multiple life cycles and energy efficiency.
4.Support the operation of circular products, services and solutions by introducing intelligent assets.
5. Close the loop of materials through remanufacturing, recycling and reuse.
This will help the Nordic industry to grow and increase their competitiveness, facilitating job creation and
enabling efficient production and use of natural resources and energy.
Research methodology
Six main areas for supporting the transition to a circular economy have been identified, which correspond
to the six work packages (WPs) central to the project.
The WPs, represented in the image below, are the following:
WP01: Sustainability evaluation
WP02: Business model innovation
WP03: Circular product design
WP04: Intelligent product operations
WP05: Closed loop strategies
WP06: Circular Value Chain
Expected results
The aim is “to conceptualize, develop and implement a set of tools and approaches that will enable the Nordic Industry to accelerate the transition towards a sustainable society by means of circular economy.”
This is a CIRCit project video presentation for the Disruptive Innovation Festival 2017.
Academic & industrial contribution
CIRCit supports companies access existing experience and scientific knowledge through practical frameworks and tools. Collaborating with businesses helps CIRCit researchers to understand what knowledge is useful and meaningful in their context, whilst aiding theory building and validation. This pragmatic approach to working in close collaboration with companies we call ‘action research.’ The goal is to develop tools that are helpful to business, and that could potentially be helpful to other companies as well.
CIRCit is a collaboration between the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Technology Industries of Finland, SWEREA and the Innovation Center Iceland. CIRCit is supported by the Nordic Green Growth Initiative, a joint programme supported by NordForsk, Nordic Energy Research and Nordic Innovation.