Every second Wednesday, the Circular Industries Talks are organised at the Circular Industries Hub. On Wednesday October 26, Jelle Joustra presented at the Circular Industries Talks. Jelle Joustra is a PostDoc researcher at the faculty of Industrial Design Engineering at TU Delft. In his talk, Jelle presented about his research into circular composites which resulted in release of the Circular Composites design guide.
Circular Composites
Composite materials, also known as fibre-reinforced plastics, are used in an increasing number of applications. While the first modern-day composites emerged in the furniture industry around the middle of the 20th century, their application has expanded dramatically to include the automotive, construction and aviation sectors, to name but a few.
To prevent composite materials going to waste at end of product use, we need to address reuse and recycling already in the early stages of the design process.
The material composition can be tailored to a specific application, which allows for advantageous product properties, such as lightweight designs and long lifetimes. But on the other hand it also challenges recovery and recycling. To prevent these materials going to waste at end of product use, we need to address reuse and recycling already in the early stages of the design process. However, the question remained how to design composite products for a Circular Economy
In his research, Jelle Joustra developed a design method for products containing composite materials in a Circular Economy.
The design method is described in the Circular Composites design guide. This guide can be used as a reference work for (re)designing composite products for a circular economy. The design process starts by exploring the product value chain, with stakeholders and interactions. Then, the circular product design framework can be used to detail circular strategies and identify relevant design aspects. This guide provides descriptions of all steps and refers to additional information where applicable.
Curious about Jelle Joustra's talk?
The Circular Industries talks
The goal of the Circular Industries talks is to share knowledge across Leiden, Delft and Erasmus and to complement and deepen the knowledge already available within the Circular Industries Hub. The talks are organized on Wednesday morning from 10:00 to 11:00. The talks are online (Microsoft Teams). Next up in the CI Talks: Malte Vogt (9 November)
Circular Composites Design Guides
Read more about circular composites in Joustra's Circular Composites Design Guide
