Open innovation, especially through processes that support remote collaboration such as gamification, has the potential to support multi-stakeholder collaboration for circular innovation. This study explores how companies want to collaborate for circular innovation, specifically with end-users. We identify how gamification can support companies and end-users in open circular innovation processes. We use a research-through-design approach and offer a game concept for remote digital co-design in the context of circular innovation to elicit company responses to such a game. We collect data from interviews with 15 company representatives. The results reveal a tension: Although previous research stresses the importance of involving end-users in circular innovation, some companies are skeptical. Companies prefer to extract insights from end-users and collect feedback on ideas generated by the companies themselves. However, the companies appear eager to engage with other companies in open circular innovation. The study contributes to circular economy literature by mapping co-design and circular co-design processes to theoretically ground the latter within co-design literature. It also identifies challenges related to open circular innovation, especially in the integration of end-users. From a practical standpoint, we offer insights on how to approach and structure collaborative efforts for designers and innovation managers aiming to transition toward circular business models in their organizations

Previous research emphasises the importance of actor engagement in circular business model innovation processes. Both co-design and serious games have been advocated as approaches to engage with end-users. However, there is limited research focused on applying these approaches to circular business model innovation. This paper therefore explores the role users can play in co-design of circular business models and how games could be used to support such co-design. First, roles users can play in co-design of circular business models are identified through company interviews. Several characteristics for games that can support co-design of circular business models are then offered. Finally, four game concepts are presented to illustrate how games could facilitate co-design of circular business models.

The results suggest that by engaging with users in co-design, companies could gain insights which could serve as inputs to circular business model development. This includes learning about users' needs, preferences, and product use patterns. Users can also be invited to take part in ideating, testing, and validating existing and new products and services so that companies can identify opportunities for desirable and attractive offers. Furthermore, the differing directions of the presented game concepts show there are several ways to engage with users through game approaches. As the paper presents possible roles for users in codesign of circular economy and illustrates various ways this could be approached using games, the findings are expected to be relevant to researchers and practitioners who are interested to engage users in circular business model innovation.

Product service systems (PSS) are an example of a novel business model billed as having the potential to significantly reduce the environmental burdens of production and consumption processes. However, despite widespread interest in PSS, consensus regarding their actual environmental impacts, particularly with regard to salient issues such as global warming, is lacking. Hence this paper explores existing research to investigate the state of the art regarding the climatic impacts of PSS, alongside the set of factors that influence climatic impacts. The paper comprises a systematic review of peer-reviewed academic literature, quantifying the extent to which different types of PSS have the capacity to reduce greenhouse gas emissions across multiple product categories. Our study shows that significant reductions in climatic emissions are possible, but PSS are in many cases associated with more modest reductions and, in some cases, increased emissions. Further, we observe no clear differences in climatic impacts according to the type of PSS model that is deployed. Rather, differences in climatic impact are influenced by factors such as production and design alongside use-phase impacts and contextual factors such as transportation and the energy mix. The study argues that further research is needed to establish a more robust baseline upon which to draw conclusions regarding the sources of climatic impacts, and outlines fruitful ways for companies to tackle the complexities of climatic emissions that are beyond their control. 

Circular value propositions enable companies to build business models based on value preservation and circular resource flows. Circular value propositions also allow people to live more sustainably by facilitating increased utilization and resource efficiency. However, despite potential, transitions to circular business models remain low. One reason may be that circular value propositions are less attractive because they are often not developed with a user-centered approach and thus fail to meet people’s everyday needs. Through interviews with 13 companies and a literature study, this paper explores how companies consider user needs and involve users during development of circular value propositions. It also identifies conditions and actions that aid development of attractive circular offers. The findings are synthesized in a framework describing six enabling conditions and a definition of user-centered circular value propositions useful for circular economy practice and research. 

This paper examines the claim that product-service systems can result in radical reductions in environmental burdens (up to 90%). The study performs a systematic literature review peer-reviewed assessments of use-oriented PSS models that facilitate sharing. Our findings suggest that significant reductions are possible in some cases.

Product-as-a-service (PaaS) circular business models are at a disadvantage in terms of bank financing compared to many linear business models. Such business models generally face significant challenges both in the case of collateral-based and business case-based credit security assessments. The challenges are due to both difficulties in assessing and realising the residual value of the collateral and due to the timeframe of the risk assessment of the business case. Furthermore, the complex services that are the source of competitive advantage for PaaS firms often disqualify customer contracts as collateral. Two of the challenges (low inventory valuation and forced depreciation losses) are traced to accounting and credit regulations. Another five challenges are traced to long-term industry practice. The empirical evidence consists of quotes and summarised data from 38 interviews and 24 survey responses with banks and product firms exploring circular economy financing.

Widespread adoption of circular offerings, including those based on products with prolonged lifetimes, depend on offers which are attractive to users. To develop such offers, user needs must be considered in depth during the development process. Co-design is a promising approach to develop user-centered solutions but is yet underexplored when it comes to design of circular offerings. To facilitate co-design of circular offerings, games present one opportunity but have previously primarily been used to support understanding, creation, and learning in relation to circular economy. This paper explores how games can support co-design of user-centred circular offerings by presenting insights from an analysis of existing circularity-related games and summarizing insights from literature. Eight circularity-related games were played to identify benefits and drawbacks. Relevant literature was also reviewed to synthesise recommendations for a game aimed at supporting co-design of user-centred circular offerings. The results show none of the existing circularity-related games include a deep understanding of users’ needs and only a few go beyond mere learning and actually contribute to developing companies’ offerings. Identified recommendations suggest games will have higher potential to support co-design of user-centred circular offerings if they, for example, enable co-design with users and co-creation with multiple stakeholders in the business ecosystem, provide game elements that represent circular challenges and opportunities in a realistic and dynamic way, and create bridges from the game to the real world. Future game development should hence take such recommendations into account, while ensuring the developed games do not become too complicated to play.

The report focuses on identifying, describing, and assessing impacts of circular transition, alongside barriers to development.  The following circular economy opportunities were selected for focus: 1) closed loop wood-based textile solutions, 2) new applications for ocean biomass, 3) predictive management supporting circular food-chain solutions, 4) new business models and digital platforms for the minimisation of food loss, 5) models for increased (re)utilisation of buildings, 6) digital platforms supporting circular economy, 7) smart mobility solutions, and 8) circular transport logistics. The case studies of the opportunities highlighted general trends as the main drivers manifesting future potential. Furthermore, barriers to releasing the circularity potential were identified in four categories: technology barriers, regulatory barriers, market barriers, and cultural barriers.