Overcoming barriers of circular economy in SMEs using axiomatic design
Global material extraction has more than tripled in the last fifty years, recently reaching 100 billion tonnes. Despite growing awareness of sustainability issues, material extraction and waste generation are trending upwards, while recycling and controlled disposal rates are trending downwards. The...
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| Tipo de recurso: | tesis de maestría |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2025 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) |
| Repositorio: | UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC |
| Idioma: | inglés |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:upcommons.upc.edu:2117/446460 |
| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/2117/446460 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Small business Manufacturing industries Sustainable development Economia circular Empreses petites i mitjanes Indústria manufacturera Desenvolupament sostenible Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Desenvolupament humà i sostenible Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Economia i organització d'empreses |
| Sumario: | Global material extraction has more than tripled in the last fifty years, recently reaching 100 billion tonnes. Despite growing awareness of sustainability issues, material extraction and waste generation are trending upwards, while recycling and controlled disposal rates are trending downwards. The vast majority of materials entering the global economy are still virgin inputs, with the share of secondary materials declining from 7.2% to 6.9%. (Circle Economy, 2025, pp. 10–11) A circular economy (CE) limits the consumption of virgin resources, fosters cleaner production, and promotes the efficient utilization of resources. However, many companies still struggle with its implementation. (Takacs et al., 2022, p. 1). SMEs represent 90% of global businesses and 60% of employment, but also contribute to 70% of pollution. Manufacturing small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) alone are responsible for 65% of air pollution due to weak environmental compliance. As their economic relevance grows, so do their environmental responsibilities. CE principles offer a path to sustainable growth. (Chakraborty et al., 2025, p. 1). Nevertheless, SMEs face significant barriers such as limited awareness, technical skills, and financial constraints (Takacs et al., 2022, p. 1). To overcome these, an Axiomatic Design (AD) provides a structured framework to support manufacturing SMEs in overcoming complexity and implementing circular practices efficiently. As noted by Rauch et al. (2019), an AD based approach could be successfully used for the design of flexible and agile manufacturing and assembly systems, with a special focus on EoL manufacturing SMEs. |
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