A framework to resist, postpone, and reverse physical obsolescence of engineering products with multiple use cycles

There is a growing trend in environmental policies that assumes that increased product longevity leads to reduced environmental impacts. However, there is no clear evidence linking improved product longevity to reduced environmental impact. This work does not advocate for or oppose product longevity. Instead, it takes a different approach to determining product lifetimes by tailoring component lifetimes in multiple-use cycles. Although physical obsolescence causes product failure, it remains underexplored in circular economy research within the engineering context. Here, physical obsolescence is defined as the loss of a product’s ability to function due to wear, fatigue, creep, environmental degradation, and other contributing factors that ultimately lead to failure. This work develops a physical obsolescence framework in circular product design using an integrative literature review approach. Physical durability of components in multiple use cycles can be tailored such that their replacement times are synchronized. This can be achieved by careful materials selection for components with a matching physical durability requirement. Further, the physical obsolescence of the components can be postponed and reversed using value retention processes. The usefulness of the framework is demonstrated with three case studies including circular washing machine, car and an office block design.