Model Of A Disassembly System Design: A Theoretical Framework

Transforming the current linear producing industry into a circular economy would have both economic and environmental impacts. Disassembly, as the link between the life cycles of subassemblies, parts and materials, is considered as one of the bottlenecks in the transformation. Repair, Refurbish, Remanufacture, Repurpose, and Recycle - disassembling End-of-Life (EoL) products are a key challenge for these circular economy strategies. At present, the potential of the EoL product disassembly is not being fully realised due to a lack of a systematic approach. This paper presents a theoretical model for developing a concept of a disassembly system. The model visualises the correlation between the influencing factors and the disturbing variables of a disassembly system from an external perspective and indicates the target values. According to system theory, the factors and variables are related to how the system is coupled to the environment. This facilitates the design of disassembly systems in order to exploit existing sustainability potential.