The Recycler - Eco Design

Eco-Design:
Making reuse easier
One of the many considerations of the EU Circular Action Plan
and EU Green Deal is how to increase the useful life of products.
Unfortunately, many product business models ensure that the
life of a product is finite. Products are often built to a specific
cost which yields an expected profit over a certain period. In this
feature, I will discuss how the EU is planning to use design to
extent product life through reuse.
▲ Peter Mayhew Director & Senior
Analyst, Lightwords Imaging
But what is Eco-Design? Simply, it is
designing a product with its impact on
the environment through its whole life
considered. It is not a new concept. The
EU has been developing and implementing
Directives which impact on whole life
product design for the last 40+ years.
If Eco-Design is to succeed in changing the way we
reuse products, there must be a credible and sustainable
business model to make implementation compelling for the
consumer and commercially viable for the producer.
The performance of boilers, water and
space heaters were some of the first products
to see their efficiency questioned and
design improved to achieve regulatory
compliance. But early regulations only
addressed energy efficiency. As we became
more aware of finite natural resources, the
scope widened to include Reuse and, how
it could be increased through Repair and
Remanufacture. Three areas where it was
realised that built-in obsolescence could
be changed to designed-in repairability.
Eco-Design is focused on this goal.
Business models matter
If Eco-Design is to succeed in changing
the way we reuse products, there must be
a credible and sustainable business model
to make implementation compelling for the
consumer and commercially viable for the
producer. Best intentions will not support
economies. The European Commission
addressed this concern through their LIFE
program. A €3.4 billion ($4.07 billion)
funding instrument for a broad range of
programs from nature conservation and
biodiversity to resource efficiency.
One programme funded by LIFE is the
REBus project which cites the case of Xerox
who have evolved their business
to move from a product-based system
of selling copiers plus maintenance, to
selling the service of producing copies.
Arguably the foundation of Managed
Print Services today.
At its core, the Xerox business case
leveraged equipment designed through its
now 30-year-old 'Waste-free Products and
Factories' initiative to best use resources
and enable remanufacture. As a result, over
900,000 tonnes of electronic waste was
diverted away from landfill.
2021

Cambridge Value Mapping Tool
The Cambridge Value Mapping
Tool takes you in a guided step-bystep
process through the following
questions:
1. What is the unit of analysis
eg product, service, company,
industry?
2. Who are the stakeholders
for the unit of analysis?
3. What is the purpose of
the unit of analysis?
4. What is the current value
captured?
5. What is the value missed
and/or destroyed?
6. What is the value surplus
and/or absence?
7. What are the new value
opportunities?
Source: http://www.ifm.eng.cam.ac.uk/news/thecambridge-value-mapping-tool/# .V8aiy5N961s
However, new business model design
tools are needed to redefine value and
one example is the work of the University
of Cambridge in the UK who, through
its Industrial Sustainability Research
have created The Cambridge Value
Mapping Tool. The tool "uses a structured
and visual approach to identify ‘value
uncaptured’ in the form of failed value
exchanges: value missed, destroyed,
surplus, and absence. The exchange
of value is analysed through the lens
of each stakeholder in the business
network, with the natural environment
and society each being given its own
voice and stake in the business ".
Design for sustainability
and reuse
There are many opportunities during
the new product design (NPD) process
to reduce the environmental impact of
a product; the choice and quantity of
material used, how it is formed, the layout
of the construction to achieve structural
or aesthetic requirements, the method of
assembly to achieve functionality or, the
Second, third or multiple reuses is not a new
design concept. There are many examples,
from cars to clocks, where repair requires
a few simple tools and, if you cannot buy
a spare part, you can make it yourself!
type of fixings used to achieve assembly,
durability, and safety. Design processes
now often include consideration of
product failure to achieve higher quality
and reliability over a specific time, for a
specified value proposition. Environmental
impact has some way to go to achieve
similar treatment.
Second, third or multiple reuses is not
a new design concept. There are many
examples, from cars to clocks, where
repair requires a few simple tools and,
if you cannot buy a spare part, you can
make it yourself! Additive manufacturing
leveraging 3D printing technology will
revolutionize the repair sector. But product
design must also ensure that the end user
does not come to harm or cause injury on
the pathway to end of life and the next sale.
Safe dismantling requires a product
designed for dis-assembly including,
Commonly Used Fasteners which
can be removed and replaced multiple
times, elimination of non-separable
connections (use of glues and welds)
and, levels of skills for disassembly and
reassembly which do not always require
extensive training and expertise to replace
worn parts.
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There are Eco-Design minimum
requirements for some products
(computers, household appliances, boilers,
etc.) which are intended to reduce their
negative environmental impact during
their life. Their scope can be broad and
include maximum energy consumption to
minimum quantities of recycled material
used in their production. Increasingly, there
are specific and exact values attributed to
these requirements. Generic requirements
do not have limits but, may require
products to be recyclable, maintainable
and minimize environmental impact.
Sometimes, compliance is required before
the product is placed on the market.
Implementing standards
The EU also provides design standards
which are regulated. European
standardisation bodies such as CENELEC
develop Standards and Harmonization
processes. But there can be a presumption
of conformity and compliance.
Presumption may not always be effective,
and some industry sectors create Voluntary
Agreements under the EU Eco-Design
legislation. Imaging equipment is covered
by an Industry Voluntary Agreement,
managed through Eurovaprint, providing
environmental performance targets.
It includes copiers, MFDs, printers
and fax machines.
Plastic is an extremely versatile product,
but its ubiquitous use is now recognised as
unsustainable, polluting, and harmful to
the environment. Imaging equipment, like
numerous similar products make ample
use of the material.
It is positive to note that the latest draft
of the 2020 Joint Voluntary Agreement
sets specific requirements for the use of
plastic, fastener types, and non-separable
connections in both print hardware and
cartridges.
This Voluntary Agreement goes a step
further to discuss dismantling and nondestructive
extraction of some components
which are typically separated at the end
of the product life. Eco-labeling will
demonstrate compliance to end-users. This
is a good example of how the EU Circular
Action Plan and Green Deal, through Eco-
Design is slowly starting to have an impact
on an industry.
Eco-Design is not difficult to achieve.
Its problem is that it is caught between
economic, commercial, and environmental
stakeholder needs. Either Voluntary
industry direction or legal compulsion
will decide the degree and pace of
its implementation in many industries.
Post pandemic, competitive advantage
through Eco-Design will resonate
well with customers and may prove
a welcome accelerant.
References:
The REBus Project: www.rebus.eu.com
University of Cambridge. Industry
Sustainability Research: www.ifm.eng.cam.
ac.uk/research/industrial-sustainability/
CELENEC European Committee for
Electromechanical Standardization:
www.cenelec.eu
EuroVAPrint: www.eurovaprint.eu ■
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