Design Topic 2.1 & 2.2

Renewable resources

Energy that comes from resources that are naturally replenished on a human timescale such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, waves, and geothermal heat.

Non-renewable resources

A resource that does not renew (replenish its self) at a sufficient rate for sustainable economic integration. Examples include coal, petroleum, and natural gas.

Reserves

A natural resource that has been identified in terms of quality and quantity

Renewability

Relates to a resource that can be replenished overtime or is inexhaustible, for example wood from trees, or fresh drinking water.

Waste mitigation strategies

Strategies that can reduce or eliminate the volume of material disposed to landfill

Reuse

The reuse of the same product in a different context

Repair

The reconstruction/renewal of any part of an existing structure or device.

Re-engineer

Redesign components or products to improve their characteristics.

Recycle

The use of materials from obsolete products to create products. E.g. plastic bottles - spun into thread - board-shorts.

Recondition

Rebuilding a product so that is is in an “as new” condition. e.g an engine.

Dematerialization

Reducing the quantities of materials used in a product. Trying to “do more with less”

Life cycle analysis

A technique used to assess environmental impacts associated with all the stages of a products life cycle

Life cycle steps

Pre-production, production, distribution, utilization, disposal.

Raw Material Recovery

The process of separating the component parts of a product to recover the materials.

WEEE Recovery

Waste electrical and electronic equipment - Process of collecting, treating, and recycling end-of-life electronics to salvage valuable earth elements e.g. gold and silver.

Waste-to-energy

The process of generating energy from in the form of electricity and or heat from the primary treatment of waste.

Circular economy model

An economy model where resources remain in use for as long as possible, maximum value is extracted, and materials are recovered and regenerated at the end of the product’s life cycle.