Waste Mitigation strategies

Several strategies can be implemented to reduce or eliminate waste throughout the lifecycle of a product. As a designer, you can apply these strategies directly or indirectly to your design. Regardless of the strategies usesd, it is essential to design out as much waste as possible.

Re-use

Re-use refers to utilising a product more than once, in the same or different context. Examples include reusing glass jars to store dry materials, plastic bags, or clothing.

Recycle

Recycling refers to the use of waste to create a new product. Commonly recycled materials include paper, cardboard, thermoplastics, and alunimum.

Repair

Repair refers to fixing or renewing a worn out or broken component. Common examples are bicycle tire repair kits for fixing punctured tubes, or the replacement of cracked cell-phone screens. Designers can make decisions that either empower users to do their won repairs, or decisions that limit or prevent users from making their own repairs. 

It is not uncommon for manufacturers to "lock-out" users from repairing products they own. Recent examples include John Deer farming machines. Movements such as "Right to Repair" advocate for users being able to repair their own products. 

Learn more about the right to repair movement and the associated design issues for designers

Recondition / Refurbish

Reconditioning refers to the rebuilding of the product so that it is in an "as-new condition". Common examples are car engines, mobile phones, and computers. Manufactures usually sell the product at a lower price than the new one, but provide a limited warranty for the reconditioned product.

Re-engineer

Re-engineering refers to the redesign of materials or components to improve the performance of a product. It can also be called "Upgrading". This could include upgrading the processor of a computer or changing of gears or components on a bicycle frame. Re-engineering can also involve changing materials to be more environmentally friendly; developing a more efficient manufacturing process which results in some changes to the final product; or introduce a new function to the original design.

The Dyson Ball Vacuum is an example of a product that has been re-engineered to improve performance.

As natural resources become more scare due to consumption, strategies for waste reduction and designing out waste will only become more important for designers. It is becoming essential for designers to consider the impact of their designs and to include waste mitigation strategies as an essential component of the design process.

LCA (Life-Cycle-Analysis) is one such tool that designers can use to measure the impact of their designs. Other strategies include:

• Circular Economy

• Energy Recovery

• WEEE Recovery

• Raw material recovery

• Recycling

• Dematerialization

WEEE Recovery

Electronic devices contain a mixture of materials and components that can be hazardous and cause environmental damage when disposed of improperly. This wastes is also referred to as e-waste.

Poisoned workers, environmental damage, rising materials costs, and geopolitical tensions are some of the outcomes. In addition, many electronic devices contain scarce or vaulable resources (Gold, rare earth metals, etc.). 

WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive) addresses the complex issue of recycling waste electronics by improving the collection, treatment, and recycling of these materials at their end of life.

ifixit.org: "E-waste is the toxic legacy of our digital age"

Raw Material Recovery

This strategy involved the separating of raw components of a product in order to recover the parts and materials. By doing so, parts and materials can be sorted correctly and thus increase the quantity of materials available for recycling and reuse, and reduce waste.

Recycling

The system most people are familiar with, recycling is defined as the use of materials from obsolete products to create other products. recycling decreases the demand for new raw materials, reduces energy consumption, reduces waste production, and lowers greenhouse gas emissions.

Different materials have different degrees of recyclability. When using recycled materials, designers need to consider the physical and aesthetic properties of the recycled materials, as well as cost. Aluminum for instance, doesn't degrade to the same degree as most plastics, and as such can be recycled quite easily and frequently and still maintain its desirable physical and aesthetic properties. Most plastics, on the other hand, degrade during the recycling process, and their physical properties change. They can become less transparent, for example. 

Dematerialization

Dematerialization is the strategy of "doing more with less." At its essence, dematerialization seeks to reduce the energy and materials used in the production, use, and end-of-life of a product, and thus reduce the impact on the environment.

Common examples include:

• shifting from paper to digital communication (letter to emails)

• fossil fuels to solar power

• shrinking or miniaturizing a product so it uses less material

Lightweighting (also known as de-weighting) is the reduction of the quantity of materials to reduce overall weight which results in less material and energy use.  Designers may make use of FEA (Finite Element Analysis) and Generative Design to identify materials, forms, or processes that can reduce weight but still meet the same performance goals. 

Planet reuse: