Although annual reports indicate targets for CO2 reduction, it mostly results in process and manufacturing improvements, and is difficult to translate into platform and product architectures and designs. It is a new paradigm that requires iterative trade off and innovation discussions between business and architecture. New business models might be required due to architectural decisions and vice versa. When is ESC a business driver and when should it be considered as (key) quality of product architecture, requirements and design? A circular lifecycle is in sharp contrast to traditional linear lifecycle thinking. Architecting for such a circular life-cycle should be considered at every level of system hierarchy.
This environmental sustainability and circularity story plays out at different system levels than what architects usually consider when developing a system. Waste is often not experienced by the customer of the OEM, but by their customers, or even further removed in environmental systems. Architects need to consider more system levels and for instance affected stakeholders when developing for ESC and not only consider immediate customer requirements.