Aplicação de um product-service system no mercado do mobiliário em Portugal

  • Raul Meireles Brochado Vilhena Roque (Student)

Student thesis: Master's Thesis

Abstract

This work was made with the objective of analyzing the implementation of a Product-Service System concerning the house furnishing market in Portugal. This model is already applied in countries such as Germany or Sweden, and it’s seen as a way to make the house furnishing market and industry more sustainable, as it was shown in this work. That said, in this work was explained the differences between circular and linear economy, relating these notions with sustainability. Then, the focus was in explaining what a PSS is, what kind of PSSs exist and a brief history of its development, so the reader can be aware of the concepts used in this work. Thus, it was made a deep analysis of the European furnishing market as i tis today, as well as the PSS models already applied, stating the barriers and motivations for its appliance, either for consumers or producers. The conclusion was that the furnishings market is highly unsustainable and pollutant, as it produces 10.5 tons of waste, from products that haven’t reach the end of their life cycle. It was understood that there is a certain level of difficulty when it comes to implement this model by the companies, given their need to change the way they work, the level of acceptance of consumers and the lack of public measures to support it. Finally, it was made an analysis of the feasibility of this model in Portugal. To do so, 57 interviews were made to people between 15 and 60 years, whom have had to change the place of living. Then, it was studied the consumers preferences between renting or buying furnishings. It was concluded that there is an opportunity to establish a model of this kind. However, it is recommended to have further studies, namely on the producer side.
Date of Award21 Oct 2022
Original languagePortuguese
Awarding Institution
  • Universidade Católica Portuguesa
SupervisorJorge Julião (Supervisor)

Keywords

  • Product-service system
  • Circular economy
  • Sustainability
  • Furnishing

Designation

  • Mestrado em Economia

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