Open product development to support circular economy through a material lifecycle management framework

Environmental concerns are increasingly demanding for sustainable consumption of Earth's resources. The adoption of the circular economy model can potentially address the environmental sustainability challenge, but there is a need to revolutionise the way products are developed. This work aims to explore the current scientific literature related to the open product development process in support of sustainability, with a major focus on circular economy, and propose a framework to address the main obstacle emerged from it. More than 130 research articles have been scanned, and more than 50 have been deeply analysed. One of the main gaps discovered in the studied literature is the lack of shared information about materials. For this reason, we propose a framework for the establishment of a digital identity of materials by means of cyber-physical systems employed along the material lifecycle. In this way, material-related information in all the lifecycle phases can be collected and stored in a material passport to increase value chain transparency and allow resources traceability. Sharing material passports in a digital platform would form an internet of materials that would support designers and engineers in developing more sustainable products.