Take-Back Schemes: Designing for Circularity

Of the total UK waste from households, 6.3% is comprised of products thrown away before the end of their useful lives (Statista,2022). Whilst 70% of UK consumers express interest in product-life extension, 54% believe that it should be the responsibility of the retailer to facilitate accessible, circular solutions (Capgemini,2021).

An existing retailer-led solution is take-back schemes (TBS), which allow consumers to return used products, sometimes in exchange for an incentive. However, existing TBS are inconsistent and opaque in their sustainability objectives, some centred on charitable partnerships, others on limited second-hand resale initiatives and recycling - all of which fail to provide a truly sustainable solution that addresses waste prevention and reuse.

Our vision for this project is to completely rethink the existing solutions and infrastructures around retailer-led TBS. Using human-centred design, we aim to determine optimal approaches to TBS, enabling products to be reused, remanufactured and resold - rather than going to landfill. The project may produce new approaches to closing the loop between production and waste, or entirely new ecosystems that will harness the power of external platforms and infrastructures that enable products to reach their intended lifespan.