Nowadays, Circular Economy (CE) is shifting from a nice-to-have marketing operation to a business development strategy that is central to the restoring and preservation of our natural ecosystem. However, despite motivated promotion efforts, the concrete application of this model at the micro-level is still in its infancy due to several challenges that companies face. One of these challenges is the uncertainty that businesses have in the estimation of the actual impact that adopting CE strategies can have on their activities from an environmental and economic perspective. This work aims to define a conceptual framework to be applied to the Life Cycle Extension Strategies (LCES) of products, which is meant to understand whether the application of a strategy is beneficial from an environmental and economic point of view. In order to address the identified need, a list of indicators to be exploited in the LCES performance analysis has been designed and divided into the two categories of environmental and economic indicators. On the top of this, a calculation methodology that is based on life cycle perspective approaches is applied, which exploits a gap-based approach and thus, compares the effects generated by the linear strategy and those created by the LCES analysis. The evaluation approach is meant to highlight the possible advantages and disadvantages offered by the CE model for product lifecycles. The conceptual framework is tested through an industrial case study and further analysis leading to the improvement of the calculation methodology is discussed.

Within a market in constant evolution, manufacturing companies are facing several challenges that are putting their businesses at risk. The convergence of technological advancements and a growing emphasis on sustainable manufacturing processes are significantly turning manufacturers' production standards upside down. In the context of the management of the machinery life cycle, transitioning to a circular approach becomes imperative to maximize the use of resources while reducing environmental impacts. A good compromise to encompass both a digital and a circular transition in the machinery sector can lie in the adoption of product life extension strategies. Due to the complexity of the machinery ecosystem value chain and the need for knowledge and tools enabling circular economy at each level of the supply chain, a tailor-made methodology is proposed, aimed at supporting companies looking to extend the machinery life cycle, emphasizing the importance of integrating digital technologies for sustainable and profitable change. The research methodology followed considered first an analysis of the traditional management model of machinery manufacturing ecosystem. This allowed to identify associated challenges linked to the modification of the machinery value chain when digitalization is integrated to reach sustainable and circular goals. An transition methodology (named in the article as Circular Transition Management - CTM - methodology) is introduced, that integrates digital technologies to support manufacturing companies in this circular transition. The methodology enables the matchmaking of digitalization requirements to the different stakeholders of the value chain, thus allowing a company to adopt a circular strategy for its business. Three business strategies are explored in order to extend the machinery life cycle, from integrating digital solutions within new equipment or providing add-on services, towards servitizing new machines. The proposed CTM methodology has been applied in an industrial case discussed in the article.

The circular economy is crucial for the contemporary fashion industry, as it offers a way to tackle the numerous environmental and sustainability issues associated with the traditional linear approach to fashion production and consumption. A paramount challenge lies in drastically advancing recycling practices within the entire fashion value chain and managing the garments’ end-of-life. Such advancements would allow the industry to recover the value of materials currently wasted throughout the journey from raw materials to garments in stores. The paper summarizes the exploration of the feasibility and the potential impact of the adoption of recycling technologies in various real-case scenarios, and it is based on primary data and information collected in (a) a field research conducted by Blumine in the framework of a UNIDO SwitchMed project focusing on the valorisation of post-industrial textile waste in a circular economy perspective in three North-Africa countries (Egypt, Tunisia, and Morocco), (b) in the evaluation of the environmental impact of new technologies for the treatment of textile fibres blended with elastane. Both (a) and (b) studies have highlighted the need to address the issue of the recycling of mixed fibres that represent a large share of the textile waste