Connecting Consumption and Production Systems from the Perspective of the Product User: A Foundational Multilevel Systems Model of Circularity Realized at the Economy-scale

Sahra Svensson-Hoglund¹Jennifer D. Russell¹Jessika Luth Richter^2*Marianna Lena Kambanou³Anne P.M. Velenturf⁴Rich Grousset⁵Leonidas Milios⁶Sandra Goldmark^7,8Martin Calisto Friant⁹Alejandro Gallego-Schmid¹⁰Laura Novich¹¹Paul Dewick¹²

• ¹Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Global Change Center, Blacksburg, United States
• ²International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics, Lund, Sweden
• ³Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden
• ⁴University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom
• ⁵ReuseAbility, New York City, United States
• ⁶UNESCO Chair in Life Cycle and Climate Change ESCI-UPF, Barcelona, Spain
• ⁷Columbia University Climate School, New York, United States
• ⁸Barnard College, New York, United States
• ⁹Circle Economy Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands
• ¹⁰The University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom
• ¹¹Hyloh, New York City, United States
• ¹²Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, United Kingdom

The Circular Economy (CE) concept continues to garner significant attention from stakeholders. Yet, what a CE entails in its realized state remains insufficiently articulated, particularly for product users. This study introduces a multilevel systems model that conceptualizes an economy-wide, fully implemented CE from the perspective of the product user. The focus is on the foundational tenets of CE theory, namely the flows of materials, products, and components in the specific context of durable consumer products. First, this model clarifies the composition, elements, and structure of the consumption system in a realized CE. Notably, elements often relegated to the background, such as contextual settings, are foregrounded to enable a more comprehensive analysis of factors involved in CE Behaviors. The model provides a structured foundation for systematic exploration of potential implications for product users, which can be expanded in future research to include additional dimensions (e.g., social and ecological). Second, the multileveled nature of the model and mapping of the diverse flows and interactions shaping product users' reality allows for systematic integration of consumption (i.e., more concrete from the perspective of the product user) and production (i.e., more abstract) systems. As such, the model introduces an integrated product-system lens for bridging multi-and interdisciplinary areas of sustainable consumption and production. The model's development follows a sequential method and is empirically tested and refined through a Delphi study involving 14 experts in CE and sufficiency. The paper concludes by outlining avenues for future research and potential applications of the model.