The Shape of Return: The Dawn of the Vein Industry and the Idea of Circular Design (September 1998).

The Shape of Return: The Dawn of the Vein Industry and the Idea of Circular Design (September 1998).

At the end of the 1990s, Japan was seeking to build a "recycling-oriented society. As environmental problems became more serious, the importance of the "venous industry" emerged in relation to the arterial industry. How to recycle products after they have been used and return them to society again? The core of this philosophy lies not in the disposal stage, but in the initial stage of product design. Companies shifted their policies to "green procurement," and ISO 14001 certification became a condition of doing business. The distribution industry also took on the role of a collection point, and the Department Stores Association published an environmental white paper in support of eco-life. Consumers, too, were redefined as "returners" rather than "throwers. The idea of incorporating information and ethics into the product life cycle and weaving a path for the return of goods into the design was a precursor to what is now known as the circular economy. The vein industry is an
industry that transforms the past into the future, and a product that has been used up is not the end of its life, but the door to a new beginning.