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Battery electric vehicles (BEVs) represent a promising solution to mitigate carbon emissions by road transportation. However, life cycle assessment (LCA) studies on BEVs have demonstrated that batteries are responsible for around 30% of the vehicle's environmental impacts. Therefore, the integration of circular economy (CE) criteria in battery design and life cycle management is key to improve resource efficiency and environmental sustainability. Nevertheless, literature analysing the implementation of CE design criteria in BEVs´ battery development is scarce. Focusing on Li-ion batteries (LIB) for BEVs, this paper examines the potential for implementation of life cycle-based CE design criteria. Accordingly, a CE design assessment tool, including a list of 53 relevant design criteria gathered from the literature, industrial practice and EU legislation, with application to BEVs´ batteries, was shared with industrial stakeholders from the H2020 LIBERTY project (LC-BAT-10-2020 No. 963522) to receive feedback. The industrial stakeholders were asked to evaluate the potential implementation of each CE design criteria based on the relationship between importance and viability by providing scores from 0% to 94%.The results indicate that the most important CE design criteria are related to the manufacturing stage of LIBs, including innovations oriented to increase the performance and quality of the final product by anticipating to new legislation requirements, including resource and environmental aspects, for BEVs. On the other hand, design criteria related to the end of life (EOL) management of LIBs show low implementation potential due to low viability scores. The benefits of considering CE design criteria in LIB development are discussed as well as the potential trade-offs in order to support well-informed decision-making. This includes an analysis of the causes for the low score for some CE design criteria and the opportunities to improve their implementation potential to increase the resource efficiency and environmental performance of BEVs´ LIBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The sustainability benefits of using solar cookers in developing countries have been analysed widely in the literature. However, the sustainability potential of solar cookers in developed economies has not been explored yet, which is the topic of this paper. Three types of solar cooker – box, panel and parabolic – were built as part of this research, using mostly (>70%) reused household materials. Their life cycle environmental and economic performance was analysed and compared to conventional microwaves. The results were first considered at the level of individual cookers and then scaled up to the levels of a city, region and country, considering a conservative (10%) uptake of solar cookers in substitution of microwaves. The contribution of home-made solar cookers to a circular economy and their social sustainability were also analysed. Spain was used as an illustrative example to demonstrate the potential sustainability benefits of using solar cookers in developed countries. The results suggest that, in comparison with microwaves, they could reduce annual life cycle costs by up to 40% and environmental impacts by up to 65%, including greenhouse gas emissions. At the national level, 42,600 t of CO 2 eq. would be avoided annually while the consumption of primary energy would be reduced by 860 TJ. Furthermore, the electricity consumption would decrease by 67 GWh/yr and 4200 t/yr of household waste would be avoided. If solar cookers were built entirely by reusing household materials, up to €23.2 million could be saved per year. Finally, the development of craft activities to build and repair the cookers can help people to engage socially and reduce stress, thus enhancing their social wellbeing. It can also increase people's awareness of a more sustainable use of resources. Therefore, home-made solar cookers represent a promising opportunity to motivate behavioural changes towards a circular economy and sustainability in developed countries. Graphical abstract Unlabelled Image Highlights • The benefits of using home-made solar cookers instead of microwaves are evaluated. • GHG emissions and waste generation can be reduced by 42.6 kt and 4.2 kt annually. • Around 67 GWh of electricity and €23.2 million can be saved each year. • Social engagement in building and using solar cookers can enhance social wellbeing. • They can motivate behavioural changes towards circular economy and sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern lifestyles have popularised the use of food containers, also known as food savers or Tupperware. However, their environmental impacts are currently unknown. To fill this knowledge gap, this paper presents the first comprehensive assessment of the life cycle environmental sustainability of reusable plastic and glass food savers and evaluates different options for improvements, focusing on European conditions. Taking a cradle-to-grave approach, the paper considers twelve environmental impacts, including global warming potential (GWP), acidification, eutrophication, human and ecotoxicities. The results suggest that, for example, the total GWP of using both types of food saver in the European Union (EU) amounts to 653 kt CO 2 eq./year, equivalent to the annual greenhouse gas emissions of Bermuda. The use stage is the main contributor to the impacts (>40%), related to the washing of containers. Glass food savers have 12%–64% higher impacts than the plastic and should have up to 3.5 times greater lifespan to match the environmental footprint of plastic containers. Three improvement scenarios have been considered at the EU level for the year 2020: low-carbon electricity mix; implementation of the EU eco-design regulation for dishwashers; and adoption of more resource-efficient hand dishwashing techniques. The results suggest that the implementation of all three improvement options would reduce the impacts by 12%–47%. The option with the greatest potential for reducing the impacts (12%–27%) is improved hand dishwashing to reduce the amount of water, energy and detergents used. Thus, policy makers and manufacturers should devise strategies to raise awareness and guide consumers in adopting these techniques with the aim of reducing the environmental impacts associated with reusable food savers used by millions of people worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The service sector has the potential to play an instrumental role in the shift towards circular economy due to its strategic position between manufacturers and end-users. However, there is a paucity of supporting methodologies and real-life applications to demonstrate how service-oriented companies can implement circular economy principles in daily business practice. This paper addresses this gap by analysing the potential of service-oriented companies in the information and communication technology (ICT) sector to build and implement circular economy business models. To this end, the Backcasting and Eco-design for the Circular Economy (BECE) framework is applied in an ICT firm. BECE, previously developed and demonstrated for product-oriented applications, has been developed further here for applications in the service sector. By shifting the focus from a product-oriented approach to a user-centred eco-design, the paper shows how ICT firms can identify, evaluate and prioritise sustainable business model innovations for circular economy. The two most promising business model innovations are explored strategically with the aim of designing circular economy models consistent with the company's priorities of customer satisfaction and profitability. The findings suggest that ICT companies may be able to support the deployment of a circular economy in the service-oriented technology sector. Importantly, micro and small organisations can play a fundamental role if provided with macro-level support to overcome company-level barriers. Finally, the BECE framework is shown to be a valuable resource to explore, analyse and guide the implementation of circular economy opportunities in service-oriented organisations. Further research to verify the application of the findings to other service-oriented organisations is recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]