Defining value creation in the context of circular PSS

The concept of a circular economy (CE) can be regarded as a way to operationalise the aim of accomplishing sustainable development (SD) on a macro level. Product-Service Sytems (PSS), business models (BM) that combine tangible products with intangible services to jointly satisfy a customer's needs, are well suited to align with CE principles. Whether applying CE principles leads to value creation for a broader group of stakeholders, however, is not yet sufficiently proven. The study presents CE principles, elements that govern the decision-making process of a firm and uses the example of PSS to demonstrate how these principles are applied in the design of the supply chain network. A definition of value creation for multiple stakeholders is presented, and the example of mobility as a service used to highlight the importance of system and life cycle (LC) thinking to prevent rebound-effects and fully understand the trade-offs of a circular PSS. (C) 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the 10th CIRP Conference on Industrial Product-Service Systems.