Rethinking processes and products

The intelligent use and manufacture of products and processes is at the heart of the development of new products because the principles of Refuse, Rethink and Reduce cover the entire product life cycle in order to reduce the use of resources. Circular design takes into account and optimizes all phases of a product's life cycle and thus offers the greatest leverage for the circularity of products.

Meeting a need with minimal use of resources (Refuse), circular product design (Rethink) and manufacturing products as efficiently as possible (Reduce) are key starting points for ensuring that products and services use as few resources as possible.

If conventional products, processes or procedures are made superfluous because completely new possibilities exist to fulfill the corresponding benefit, this is referred to as the R principle Refuse (R1).

The R principle "Rethink" (R2) encompasses many other aspects of Design for Circularity; the aim is to use products for as long and as intensively as possible and to return them to the cycle at the end of their service life. The resources used are optimally utilized through shared use and easy repairability.

Increasing efficiency in the production of products and the conscious use of recycled or renewable resources corresponds to the R principle "Reduce" (R3). Another key requirement is the replacement of problematic materials with harmless alternatives so that no harmful substances are released into the environment and subsequent recycling into high-quality and harmless products is possible.