Product Design for the Circular Economy

This first course in the Sustainable and Circular Product Development specialization illustrates the product design tools necessary to implement Circular Economy (CE) principles. The course begins with an overview of the Circular Economy and why it is necessary today. It then discusses the design strategies involving Design for the Environment (DfE) and Design for “R”, where R refers to Reuse, Repair, Remanufacturing, and Recycling. This course goes deeper into the world of recycling, highlighting what happens at a Material Recovery Facility, or MRF, and the innovative sorting technologies recently developed to make recycling more cost-effective. Finally, the course shows the correlation between population, affluence and consumption patterns, and how that limits the availability of materials for products, emphasizing the subsequent importance of a circular economy. The course ends by highlighting ways product designers can select the appropriate materials to achieve circularity objectives and make eco-informed decisions.

This course was developed in collaboration with Siemens Digital Industries Software and is part of the "Design for the Circular Economy" collection. Learners who complete and pass the course can receive an industry-recognized digital badge.

The “Design for the Circular Economy” microcredential and graduate certificate are developed around the educational goals of providing technical, business, and leadership knowledge and skills that inspire the transformation towards a more circular economy. This includes gaining technical knowledge to apply circular economy principles in product design, minimizing waste and maximizing impact; developing business acumen to implement innovative circular economic models that prioritize sustainability and resilience; and acquiring leadership strategies to communicate effectively and inspire change within an organization.

This course can be taken for academic credit as part of CU Boulder’s Master of Engineering in ...