Sustainable Product-service Systems for an Office Furniture Manufacturer: How Insights From a Pilot Study can Inform PSS Design

This paper reports on a project in which service design principles and LCA are brought together to conceptualise sustainable PSS models for an office furniture design and manufacturing company. Lessons learned from a pilot study in which a take-back scheme is being retrospectively developed for a popular office chair are used to develop two theoretical models (a product-oriented PSS and a use-oriented PSS) for a new product being developed by the company in conjunction with a local ECO-WISE. The paper discusses how merging service design tools with LCA can inform the PSS design from economic, environmental and social perspectives.