design for recyling

8/9/2019 Design for Recyling

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The G overnment of Ca ta lonia ,

with the aim of encouraging the

rec ycling of wa ste in Ca ta lonia ,

created the Ca talan Centre for

Recyc ling a ttac hed to the Waste

Agency of the Department ofthe Environment a t the end of

1999.

One o f the C entre’s priority w ork

areas is ec odes ign, or more

particularly, design for

recycling. The Guide of Case

Studies of Ecodesign, Design

for Recycling, is o ne of the

Centre’s publications aimed at

the industrial fabric of Catalonia,

that offers de sign for rec ycling

as a n instrument of

environmental prevention to be

applied during the d esign sta ge

of produc ts.Therefore, given the new leg a l

framework of Europe and the

globalisation of markets, the

compa nies that w ish to remain

competitive, open to new

oppo rtunities , must rec og nise

and fac e the cha llenges of thedema nds for environmental

quality, and the application of

des ign for rec ycling is a m ea ns

to achieve this.

The struct ure of the guide

The g uide introduc es the follow ing a spe cts :

- The stages to be followed by a com-

pany that incorporates design-for-

recycling criteria into its products

- The range of the main ecod esignstrategies that ca n be a pplied to the

des ign of the products.

- A collection of 35 cas e studies of

design-for-recycling experiences on

products mad e by Ca talan compa-

nies in the follow ing sec tors:

• ca r components• b uild ing

• pa ckaging a nd wrapping• urban a menities• others

1 Julio Rodrigo and Francesc Castells, Rovira i Virgili University

What is design for recycl ing?

The de signe d-for-recyc ling 1 method incorporates recycling and recyclability criteria

into the d es ign pha se of products, with the aim of ob taining recyc led a nd/or recyc lab le

products . The e nvironme ntal va ria ble is just a nother req uirement of the p rod uct tha t

is added to all the others, such as its cost, its safety, its manufacturability, its use, etc.

The a pplica tion o f this variab le d oes not a ffect the rest of the properties of the product,

and price and environmental improvement are combined with the aim of manufacturing

produc ts w ith a reduc ed environmenta l impac t a ss ociated to its entire life cyc le a nd

competitive prices.

What are produc ts designed for recycl ing,

or in other w ords, recycled and/ or recyclab le products?

Recycled products are those which are manufactured using recycled materials or

com ponents from prod ucts no longe r in use.

Recyclable products a re those that a re ma nufac tured to be recycled at the end of

their use ful life. In other wo rds , mono-ma teria ls a re us ed, the toxic a nd ha za rdous

substances are eliminated and a modular manufacturing system is used that producesea sily-disma ntled produc ts, comp a tible ma teria ls a re us ed, mate ria l tha t is d ifficult

to use is identified b y means of codes , and so o n.



The stages to be fo l lowed by a com pany that incorporates

design- for- recycl ing cr i ter ia into i ts p roduct s

5Introduction of

the environmental

improvements selected

• P rioritise the improvements selected.

• Analyse the following as pects o f the product:

- Informa tion a bout the product: de tailed d es cription (functions, c ompone nts, etc .),

key aspects of the design and production, materials used in its manufacture

and transport, resources used during its use, emissions generated and average life.

- Co mpa ny, res ource s a nd ca pa cities : insta lla tions, resources, environmenta l policy,

work team, a nd so on.

- P ress ure a nd potential for the change of the product: environmental as pects,

new materials, new technologies and requirements of clients or market demand.

- Market: functions, qua lity, price, a nd so o n.

- Co mpetitive prod ucts: identifica tion of other prod ucts ma de b y compe titors

with goo d environmenta l performa nce.

3General analysis

of the product

• Define the work team ac cording to the type of c ompany a nd its po ss ibilities.

• Design, schedule and ca rry out the diverse sta ges of the des ign-for-recycling

proces s for eac h product.

• Ass ess the need for eac h purchas e and the ass ociated environmental impac t.

Creating the work team

and scheduling

the project

2

• The company manag ement approves the project.

• The entire orga nisa tion is informed.

Company commitment

1

6Assessment and follow-up• Ass ess the effect of the environmental improvements incorporated .

• S et up d ynamics and tools for continuous environmental improvement.

4Assessment of the

environmental impact of

the product and proposalfor environmental

improvements

• Draw up the a nalysis of the life cycle of the prod uct:

- Overall view o f the mos t significa nt environmenta l impa cts ca used b y the prod uct

during the d ifferent sta ge s of its life c ycle.

- Identifica tion of the priorities and environme nta l improvements to be taken into a cc ountduring the design process.



Design for:

• Re cycling:- use of recycled materials

- re-using the componentsof products no longer

in use• Clean production

Design for:

• Recyclability - the use of mono-materials

- the disposal of toxic and hazardous substances

- modular manufacturing and easy dismantling

- the use of compatible materials

- identification of materials that are difficultto recognise, by means of codes

End of life

Obtainingraw materialsDesign for:

• Preserving resources

• A low impact of the materials

Manufacturing

DistributionDesign for:

• Efficient distribution

UseDesign for:

• Efficient use of energy

• Saving water

• Minimisation of the consumptionof auxiliary products

• Pollution prevention• Durability

Ecodesign strat egies app l icable to th e various stages

of th e l ife cyc le of product s :



Presentat ion of case stud ies of design for recycl ing:

The C ata lan Centre for Recyc ling a t the Was te Agenc y has a list o f ca tegories

of recycled a nd/or recyc lab le products at the following w ebs ite:

http://www.junres.es/CCR/index.stm

Car components

- Lubrica ting oil

- Devices , control boxes and electronic c ircuit sys tems

Others

- Glass articles

- S ho es

- Sho pping trolleys

- …

Building

- P ipes

- P las tic flooring

- Soundproofing boards

- Asphalt co nglomerate

Packaging and wrapping

- Pa ckaging w ith a return and recovery system

for the supply of the ba se product

- P ac kaging for perfumes, moisturising creams , etc.

- Bo xes for food distribution

- Pa llets

- Diverse ba gs (for rubbish, ag ricultura l plas tic films, et c)

- Recycled paper

Urban equipment

- Rubbish c ontainers

- Urban fences

- Fountains

- Canopies



C/Docto r Roux 80 - 08017 B a rce lonaTelf. 935 673 300

Fax 935 673 294

[email protected]

http://w w w.junres .es/CC R/ind ex.s tm

CCR Information

and query response service

design for recyling

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