An Information-Driven Framework for Green Product Design in Circular Supply Chains

As the circular economy advances, green product design must balance competitiveness and transparency—goals often in tension. This paper proposes an information-driven framework to support decision-making in circular supply chains by modeling the trade-off among profitability, environmental performance, and disclosure transparency. It presents a 3D optimization model using an entropy-weighted measurement of alternatives and ranking according to compromise solution method to construct a nine-criteria indicator system and apply the non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm II to generate Pareto-optimal solutions from empirical data from 30 manufacturers. Results show that high-transparency designs increase disclosure scores by 15.3% with only a 1.8% decline in profit margins, while significantly enhancing consumer brand preference (p < 0.05). The framework enables dynamic, data-informed strategies for sustainable product development across supply chain tiers. This study provides a practical decision-support tool for firms seeking competitive advantage through transparent design and offers regulators insights for tiered oversight.