Sustainable product lifecycle management with Digital Twins: A systematic literature review

Digital Twins within the Circular Economy: Literature Review and Concept Presentation

“…A DT for CE is intended to remedy this situation by acting as an enabler for CE, creating the necessary transparency throughout the PLC, and ensuring a closed loop at the product, component material, process, and information level. DTs support continuous data collection, analysis, and evaluation, providing this information to various stakeholders throughout the entire PLC [3,[14][15][16][17][19][20][21]23,24,27,29,[33][34][35]37]. As a result, new business models and services are emerging [3].…”

“…This data from DTs throughout the PLC allows for deriving conclusions about design requirements related to longevity and user behavior (Feedback to Design) [3,13,19,21,29,37]. By considering EoL treatment as well as regional EoL conditions, the product design can be optimized for better reuse, remanufacturing, or recycling (Design for Reuse, Remanufacture, Recycling) [12,17,26,27,39,40].…”

“…By finding, analyzing, and evaluating new product configurations, products can be designed for a longer product life [13,14,17,27]. Overall, environmental impact can be monitored and reduced through enhanced product design methodologies (Design for Environment) [13,27,37]. In addition, product design decisions can be supported in terms of sustainability by considering the concept of ecological design, which involves material selection and compatibility.…”

“…This includes analyzing and monitoring material inputs and outputs, real-time tracking of waste, emissions, and discharges, as well as assessing circular potential and achievements. Through these measures, greenhouse gas emissions can be quantified [37]. Additionally, DT for CE can predict specific indicators, such as recycling rates [22,29] or future CO 2 emissions [31,37].…”

“…Through these measures, greenhouse gas emissions can be quantified [37]. Additionally, DT for CE can predict specific indicators, such as recycling rates [22,29] or future CO 2 emissions [31,37]. This information can be visualized in a DT dashboard, which can be used to make important decisions regarding life cycle assessments at BoL [31].…”