The Application of Circular Economy Principles Through Re-design, Scraps De-manufacturing, and Value Chains Merge

Nowaday the industrial interest, as well as the academic one, on the development and implementation of circular approaches is growing. In parallel, the use of composite materials steeply increased in the last decades which are hardly disposable. The present work proposes an eco-design method that guides the reuse and remanufacturing of scraps. The core is the re-design of processes that introduce materials derived from scraps from other value chains. Two cases are investigated: the first concerns the production of panels for the wind sector. Using scraps from the wind blades’ trimming almost eliminates the emissions derived from the panel production. Also, the material of a component of an espresso coffee machine has been replaced by scraps from kitchen sinks; this process requires resources only for shredding. The case study allows to highlight also the importance of sharing information and networking among the actors of the supply chains and the relative distance of cooperating organizations.