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Design for Environment (DfE)

Design for Waste Minimization

 

  

 
 

Key Principles of a Circular Economy

Waste Elimination: Treating waste as a design flaw, aiming to prevent it rather than manage it.

Resource Regeneration: Using renewable resources and keeping materials circulating in biological or technical cycles.

   Circular Economy: Design for Wasre Minimization

 
Circular Innovation: Design for Wasre Minimization  

Circular innovation is the development of products, services, and circular business models that eliminate waste and keep materials in use.

Circular innovations lead the transition from a linear "take-make-dispose" system to a regenerative, closed-loop economy.

  

 
   

Pull Production, or Just-In-Time (JIT) – the method wherein the quantity of work performed at each stage of the process is dictated solely by the demand for materials from the immediate next stage; thus reducing waste and lead times, and eliminating inventory holding cost... More

 

  

 

 
 

Contingency planning is an often overlooked area. If no one knows where things move, who authorizes that move, or how such moves are documented, a simple disruption can create big uncertainty and waste.

 

Cold-Chain Discipline for Neurotoxin Handling in Clinics

  

 
   

Example: Party Rental

Shared use supports sustainability. Rental items serve many events rather than sitting unused. This lowers material waste and storage needs. Many rental companies maintain items with care, extending product life. Hosts who value environmental care often prefer renting for this reason. Shared resources help communities reduce excess without sacrificing quality... More

 

  

 

 

 
   

Design for Waste Minimization

Adapted from Design + Environment, by Helen Lewis and John Gertsakis

Waste minimization is a series of cyclical systems where materials are re-used or re-cycled as part of a closed loop.

 

  

 

 

 

 

Strategies for Product Waste Minimization

1. Source reduction

2. Extending the product life

3. Product re-use

4. Product remanufacture

5. Materials recycling  >>>

Design Strategies for Source Reduction

  • Simplify the product: eliminate unnecessary components

  • Use the minimum amount of material required to meet performance requirement

  • Avoid unnecessary packaging

  • Use strong and lightweight materials

Design Strategies for Extending Product Life

  • Identify and eliminate potential weak points in the design, particularly for operational parts

  • Ensure the product is designed for likely misuse as well for the intended use

  • Design for easy maintenance and repair, preferably by owner

  • Consider classic design or other means that will encourage consumers to want to retain products for longer periods

Design Strategies for Re-usable Crockery and Packaging

  • Ensure that the product is strong enough to withstand repeated collection, handling, washing and refilling

  • Ensure that cleaning processes meet standards for food, beverage and personal care products

  • Use-in-mould labels rather than paper and plastic labels (which can be washed off or accidentally removed)

  • Design packaging for a number of ways of re-use (for return to the manufacturer/retailer for refilling; for re-use at home)

Design Strategies for Minimal Consumption

  • Design the product to minimize the use of extra materials

  • Offer feedback to consumers on when replacement consumables are required to save wastage

  • Determine if consumables can be replaced by re-useable items

Design Strategies for Minimizing the Impact of Disposal

  • Use degradable materials if appropriate

  • Avoid toxic materials

  • Provide instructions for proper disposal on the label

Cleaner Production Strategies

  • Redesign factory layouts and product routings during manufacture to eliminate all necessary cleaning steps... More

Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)

The objective of EPR is to promote the conservation of resources, reduce the use and generation of toxic and hazardous materials and energy, and reduce the quantity of wastes for final disposal... More

Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA)

LCA is a process for analyzing the environmental impacts generated over the entire life cycle of a product from provision of raw materials to final disposal of the product... More

Design Strategies for Product and Materials Recycling

New product design strategies for waste recycling include use of simple materials, effective disassembly and recycling... More

Case Studies Canon

According to Canon Production System (CPS), 9 wastes are to be eliminated:

>> Product Design. Producing products with more functions than necessary.... More

Environmentally-sound Technologies (ESTs)

ESTs are technologies which protect the environment, are less polluting, use resources in a sustainable manner, recycle more of their wastes and products, and handle all residual wastes in a more environmentally acceptable way than the technologies for which they are substitutes... More

 

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