Implementing Circular Design Principles
What should designers know about materials before product development?
In this episode, Andreas Maegerlein, Head of the Creation Center Europe at BASF, talks about circular design from a material perspective, focusing on how material choices enable or limit circularity.
The conversation looks at how product design is affected when materials are developed to last for decades, while products are often designed to be disposable or short-lived.
What you’ll hear in this episode: • The importance of aligning material choice with product lifetime and use cycles •Why material selection need to be informed by recycling infrastructure, recycling technologies, and energy-usage • How the role of designers is evolving from showcasing quality alone toward also conveying sustainability
This episode opens the series Implementing Circular Design Principles, produced in collaboration with the German Design Council.
The series explores how design decisions shape circular outcomes at the material, product, and system level, following the principles of Rethink, Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle.
People Andreas Maegerlein, Head of Creation Center Europe at BASF https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreas-maegerlein-06564778/
Patrick Hypscher, Circular Business Strategist, PaaS Expert https://www.linkedin.com/in/hypscher/
Chapters 00:00 Introduction 03:41 The Scope of BASF’s Product Range 05:33 The Role of the Creation Center 06:55 Translating Design Needs into Material Science 08:45 Prerequisites for Reuse 11:08 Material Longevity vs. Product Lifespan 13:48 Supporting Highly Recyclable Design 15:31 The Complexity of Plastic Sorting and Separation 22:31 Recycling Technologies and Materials 28:09 Barriers to Adopting Recycled Materials 31:09 Industry Examples of Recycled Content 35:09 Rethinking Business Models for Circularity 36:58 Designing the Appearance of Sustainability 42:53 Outro
About BASF is a global chemical company headquartered in Ludwigshafen that supplies materials and solutions to industries such as automotive, construction, packaging, and consumer goods.
Alongside its broader sustainability and circular-economy program, BASF runs a network of Creation Centers where designers, engineers, and customers work with BASF experts in dedicated spaces that combine materials libraries, workshops, and digital tools to explore polymers, test applications, and develop new products with a focus on efficient use of resources and recyclability.
Further Links Find more information about:
Circular Design Summit: https://www.german-design-council.de/en/circular-design-summit
BASF Creation Center: https://www.basf.com/eg/en/products/plastics-rubber/creation_center/Ludwigshafen
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