Master’s Degree Thesis Development of a Framework for Circular Economy within Furniture Manufacturing Companies Author: Mohamed Mustafa Supervisor: Ambrose Dodoo Semester: VT19 Course code: 5TS04E Table of contents 1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................ 8 1.1 Background .............................................................................................. 13 1.2 Problem Definition ......................................................................................... 15 1.3 Aim & Objective ....................................................................................... 16 1.3.1 The Specific Objectives .......................................................................... 16 1.4 Importance of the study for the Furniture Industry ........................................ 16 1.5 Delimitation .................................................................................................... 17 2. LITERATURE REVIEW & THEORY ........................................................... 19 2.1 Literature ................................................................................................. 19 2.1.1 Necessity for adopting sustainable concepts ........................................... 19 2.1.2 Drive for integrating circular economy and sustainable framework ....... 20 2.1.3 Issue of implementing a circular framework ........................................... 21 2.1.4 Strength & weakness of circular economy .............................................. 22 2.2 Theory ............................................................................................................ 23 2.1 Sustainable Solutions ................................................................................. 23 2.2 Circular Economy ...................................................................................... 24 2.3 Product End-of-Life (EoL) ......................................................................... 26 2.4 Resource Efficiency ................................................................................... 30 3. METHODS & CASE COMPANIES ................................................................ 32 3.1 Research Methodology .................................................................................. 32 3.1.1 Comparative Design ................................................................................ 32 3.1.2 Ethical Consideration .............................................................................. 32 3.1.3 Literature Study ....................................................................................... 33 3.2 Data Gathering Methods ............................................................................... 33 3.2.1 Qualitative Research ............................................................................... 33 3.2.2 Semi-structured Interview ....................................................................... 34 3.2.3 Questionnaire .......................................................................................... 34 3.3 Case Companies ............................................................................................ 35 3.3.1 Interior Cluster Sweden ........................................................................... 35 3.3.2 Gemla Fabriker ........................................................................................ 36 3.3.3 Abstracta ................................................................................................. 37 4. RESULTS/ ANLAYSIS ..................................................................................... 39 4.1 Summary of Findings ..................................................................................... 51 5. DISCUSSION ..................................................................................................... 53 6. CONCLUSIONS ................................................................................................ 55 6.1 Approaches for circular economy targeted by the companies ....................... 55 6.2 Diverse opportunities gained from implementing circular economy ............. 55 6.3 framework for circular economy fitting for furniture manufacturing companies. ............................................................................................................ 56 7. FUTURE STUDY ............................................................................................... 63 8. REFRENCES ...................................................................................................... 64 Articles ................................................................................................................. 64 Books.................................................................................................................... 67 Certification ......................................................................................................... 68 Figures ................................................................................................................. 68 Interviews ............................................................................................................. 73 Websites ............................................................................................................... 73 Appendix ................................................................................................................. 86 Abstract The fast spreading industrialization revolution around the world has resulted in a rapid cycle of production and consumption of resources. Resulting in sustainable solutions being a fundamental need and resolutions which include efficient resources use. The concept of Circular Economy includes specific practices which take into consideration reusing resources through sustainable solutions resulting in the minimization of waste as well as the use of resources more efficiently. This study shows that organization approach circular economy in different ways, resulting in various definitions. Furthermore, the study emphasizes on the importance of developing a framework for circular economy when seeking to implement the concept. This research aims to develop a framework for the implementation of circular economy in consideration to furniture manufacturing companies. Furthermore, this research focuses on four theories: circular economy, sustainable solution, resource efficiency, and product End-of-Life (product EoL). A mixed method approach consisting of a semi-structured interview and a survey were used to help reach the aim of this study. The results from the interview two furniture manufacturing companies show that the companies use different aspects of the circular economy. In conclusion, companies with goals of being more sustainable should start considering circular economy principles from an early stage. This includes having a strict rule of only approving environmentally friendly materials. This also leads to the benefit that the practices of refurbishing and reusing allows for products to live for numerous lifetimes. 4 (87) Keywords • Circular economy: A concept used to target sustainability. The concept includes several principles and practices, including the usage of resources more efficient & reusing products and materials (Ellen Macarthur Foundation, 2017). • Sustainable development: Change of misusing resources and practice of identifying the human needs and ambitions (UN World Commission On Environment and Development, 1987). • Sustainable solutions: developing innovative solutions which impact the environment beneficially (UN World Commission On Environment and Development, 1987). • Re-use: A practice which include reusing a given product (Vezzoli & Manzini, 2008). • Re-furbish: A practice of making a product look new (King et al., 2006). • Environmental friendly: Avoiding any harmful impacts on the environment (Avdan, 2016). • Resource efficiency: The use of earth resources in a practice which is considered sustainable (European Commission, 2017). • Product end-of-life is a definition regarding a given product when it reaches the end use (King et al., 2006). 5 (87) Figures Figure 1: 12th Goal a cross-cutting issue towards other goals (European Union, 2019) ................................................................................................. 11 Figure 2: Guiding principle of Circular Economy ........................................ 14 Figure 3: The steps within Sustainable Solutions in this study ..................... 23 Figure 4: Towards Circular Economy (Ellen MacArthur Foundation) ......... 25 Figure 5: The practices of refurbishment and reuse (Shanghai HuaiTu Network Technology, 2019) ......................................................................... 28 Figure 6: Procuess of Product EoL ............................................................... 29 Figure 7: Difference between a standard business model and one that includen reusing and refurbishing ................................................................. 30 Figure 8: Issue reported by the European Commission ................................ 31 Figure 9: Chair manufactured by Gemla Fabrikers (Gemla, u.d.) ................ 36 Figure 10: Soundcapes manufactured by Abstracta (Abstracta AB, 2019) .. 38 Figure 11: SCALA WALL (Abstracta AB, 2019) ........................................ 38 Figure 12: CLARA Headboard manufactured by Gemla Fabrikers (gemla, 2014 ..............................................................................................................