Environmental Sustainability Practices in Product Design Firms

In the quest for sustainable production and consumption and the shift towards an alternative economic framework, design emerges as a crucial actor. Design discipline significantly influences the creation of products, services, and businesses. This study explores the adoption of environmental sustainability and circular economy principles in product design companies, examining the application of strategies, methods, and tools. Through a recent semi-systematic literature review spanning 2018-2023, this research analyses the practical challenges design firms face in the real world. Interviews with six Italian professionals from five product design companies were also integrated, presenting an overview of current applied practices, emphasising the gap and similarities between academic theories and industrial implementations. This paper concludes by suggesting actions and possible directions to design for low environmental impact, drawn from contemporary literature and practitioners’ experience. Furthermore, this work calls for design research efforts to be more connected to applicable design practices, be monitorable over time, and tackle significant advances concerning a transition towards sustainability