As mentioned on the TM66, a circular economy is all about design. Circular design is intentionally creating products and services that follows a user’s needs, whilst instigating an ecosystem of resources, manufacturing, distribution, use and re-use that deliver the solution.
Lighting products should be designed such that they can be repaired, modified, upgraded, reused or, at the very end of life, disassembled for component recovery. Design is not limited to product design alone — we need to design the systems, services and platforms that allow a luminaire to be repaired, modified, remanufactured, and recycled.
Apart from the obvious benefit of a circular lighting product being more environmentally friendly, it might end up lower cost for the customer to buy, given that many of the components do not need to be re-purchased. Circular products mean fewer virgin materials and less packaging. This will mean same quality in a better price.