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