At the PLATE 2023 Conference in Espoo, Finland from  31 May – 2 June 2023, Flora Poppelaars and Tim de Ruiter presented a paper about designing for divestment, especially for electronic devices. Consumers play a crucial role in closing loops in a circular economy, as they decide how and when products are returned. However, the end-of-use of products is underexplored from a consumer perspective. This final phase of the consumption cycle, also known as divestment, is the process of the physical and mental & emotional separation of the consumer from their product. The field of ‘Design for Divestment’ is in its infancy.

This paper explores the present situation of Design for Divestment in theory and practice and identifies knowledge gaps. The study first reviews the state-of-the-art literature and then analyzes divestment in practice. Interviews were held with inter alia Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and Producer Responsibility Organizations (PROs) to explore how the collection of e-waste is designed and how the divestment/consumer perspective is understood and integrated.

Download the paper Designing valuable GOODbyes

For more information, please contact Flora Poppelaars.