1.11 design for manufacturing, maintenance, repair and disposal

Sustainable

the management of resources to minimise depletion and pollution

6 Rs

Reduce

Reuse

Recycle

Refuse

Rethink

Repair

Reduce

Minimising wastage and excess materials or packaging

Reuse

Making it possible to use the products / parts again

Recycle

Recovering the parts and materials from unwanted products to be used again

Repair

Designing products so that they can be put back into working order if something breaks / goes wrong

Rethink

Considering the adoption of more sustainable alternatives

Refuse

Avoiding unsustainable materials or products

Upcycling

Creative use of unwanted products and materials to manufacture high value items e.g. lighting for bars / restaurants from old bottles and redundant plumbing fixtures

Often done at a domestic scale

Maintenance

Ways for allowing maintenance:

• Temporary joining methods

• Integral fittings not requiring tools

• Accessible

• Instruction manuals available

• Parts are standard components

• Easy access to spare parts

Some products cannot be easily repaired

Ease of manufacturing

Reduces costs

Minimises mistakes

Improves quality

Disassembly

Taking apart products for maintenance or to reclaim parts and materials → can be expensive