Circular Economy and Product Design Notes

Circular Economy & Product Eco-Design Learning Outcomes

• Differentiate circular economy from linear economy and summarize the cradle-to-cradle concept.
• List some different product design strategies and formulate examples that reduce a product's impact on the environment.
• Explain what a life cycle assessment is and generate an example.

Zero Waste & Circular Economy Approach

• Traditional Linear System: "take-make-waste."
• Circular Economy:
  • Modeled on nature, where material equals nutrient, creating closed loops or cycles.
  • Biological Metabolism: Closed organic loop.
  • Technical Metabolism: Closed inorganic loop.
• The European Union could potentially save ~$250-500 billion/year with a circular economy approach.
• Zero-waste approach: "borrow-use-return."

Toward a Sustainable Production: Industrial Ecology

• Goal: Mimic ecological systems.
• Create a network of industrial processes.
• Manage material and energy flow.
• Treat waste as a resource, aiming for no waste.

Toward a Sustainable Production: Cradle to Cradle

• Garbage = eternal resource, rethinking manufacturing.
• Ecosystem cycle approach, not a Cradle to Grave system.

Sustainable Products & Product Design

• Key Questions:
  • Is the product environmentally sound?
  • Is the product healthy for consumers?
  • Is the production process safe for workers?
  • Does production benefit local communities?
  • Is the product economically viable?
• How can we develop more ecological Products?

Product Design: Life Cycle Assessment

• Measuring impact from cradle to grave.
• Example: Cell phone production location question (USA, Japan, India, China).
• Identifying the least eco-friendly step in the cell phone lifecycle.

Product Lifetime & Sustainable Production

• Questions about cell phone usage:
  • How many cell phones have you had in the last 2 years?
  • What did you do with your previous phone?

Life Cycle Assessment: Cell Phone (iPhone 13 Example)

• Key Metrics:
  • Made with better materials: 99%
  • Recycled tungsten: 98%
  • Recycled rare earth elements.
• Tackling Climate Change:
  • Committed to transitioning the entire manufacturing supply chain to 100% renewable electricity by 2030.
• Energy Efficient:
  • 54% less energy consumed than the U.S. Department of Energy requirements for battery charger systems.
• Smarter Chemistry:
  • Arsenic-free display glass.
  • Mercury-free.
  • Brominated flame retardant-free.
  • PVC-free.
  • Beryllium-free.
• Responsible Packaging:
  • 100% of the wood fiber comes from recycled and responsible sources.
  • 95% of the packaging is fiber based, due to work to use less plastic in packaging.
• Apple Trade In:
  • Return your device through Apple Trade In, and we'll give it a new life or recycle it for free.
• Carbon Footprint:
  • Apple is committed to using carbon life cycle assessments to identify opportunities to drive down product greenhouse gas emissions.
  • Suppliers' use of renewable energy through our Supplier Clean Energy Program helped reduce the overall iPhone 13 carbon footprint by nearly 6 percent compared to the previous generation.
  • Recycled aluminum is used in the enclosure.
• Life Cycle Carbon Emissions: 64 kg
  • 81% Production
  • 2% Transport
  • 16% Use
  • <1% End-of-life processing

Product Design: Eco-Design

• Benefits of Eco-Design:
  • Higher Quality Products: More versatile and manufactured with longer-lasting materials.
  • More Efficient Production: Save energy and require fewer natural resources and raw materials.
  • Fewer Emissions: Consume less energy during transport for lower CO_2 emissions.
  • More Sustainable Industries: Companies benefit from innovation and become more committed to the environment.
  • Happier Consumers: Consumers' needs are met with more attractive products.
  • Market Differentiation: Sustainable products have added value that gives them an edge over competitors.
• Products Designed For the Environment (DFE)

Products Designed for the Environment (DFE)

• DFE Process:
  • Manufacture the same product in a different way.
  • Make the same product with different materials.
  • Make a different product to satisfy the function.

Products Designed for the Environment (DFE)

• Sustainable design strategies (covered by the article and quiz of the Lecture Prep assignment).

Clothing Sector: A Challenge

• New produced clothing worldwide:
  • Growth of clothing sales and decline in clothing utilization since 2000.
  • Circular Fibres Initiative & Ellen MacArthur Foundation.
• CO2 Consumption Comparison:
  • Fashion industry: 10%
  • Total flight and maritime transport: 5%
• Percentage of Microplastics in the Water:
  • Synthetic textiles: 35.0%
  • Plastic pellets: 0.3%
  • Marine coatings
  • City dust
  • Personal care products
  • Road markings
  • Car tires
• Growth of clothing sales and decline in clothing utilisation since 2000
  • World GDP
  • Clothing sales
• Average number of times a garment is worn before it ceases to be used
  2x

Product Design: Clothing Sector - A Challenge

• Questions to consider:
  1. How many pairs of jeans do you own?
  2. What is the lifespan of a pair of jeans in your closet?
  3. Calculate the quantity of resources that went into making those pairs of jeans:
     • Water consumption
     • Land consumption
     • CO_2 emissions
  4. Estimate the equivalent consumption for:
     • Water: consider 60 L for an 8 min shower
     • Land: consider 6 m^2 for a quarter-pound hamburger
     • CO2: consider 400gCO2 per mile driven

What Can I Do?

• Less Stuff, More Happiness
• Smaller Space
• More Money
• EDIT RUTHLESSLY
• DIGITISE
• THINK SMALL STACK
• Nest
• MULTIFUNCTIONAL
• MAKE ROOM for GOOD
• LESS STUFF
• freedom