Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
encourages industrial designers to focus on redesigning products and man-
ufacturing processes so as to reduce the burden our consumer society puts
on the natural environment. This can be done by substituting less toxic
chemicals for more toxic ones in product design and manufacturing
processes. Products can also be designed to use materials and energy in ways
that reduce the emission of wastes throughout the product life cycle, from
resource extraction through end product disposal.
14
Products can also be designed to be easily repaired, remanufactured, or
taken apart and recycled, in order to extend the usefulness of the materials
and energy bound up in them. Although it is important to take into con-
sideration the environmental impacts of all the resources used to repair or
recycle a product, designing products so that they can be reused or recycled
can protect the environment by reducing the need to extract raw materials
from the natural world in the first place.
15
To be effective, DFE and the Kalundborg waste exchange approach to
waste management compel managers to move away from conventional
short-term, arm's-length relationships with their suppliers to closer, longer-
term relationships. This is necessary not only for companies developing
innovative relationships to buy or sell wastes as inputs into production,
but also for those interested in doing environmental design. Because
many industries are increasingly vertically disintegrated, many companies,
like most of those in the computer industry, do not manufacture or even
do all the design work on the products they sell. They simply do the final
assembly and slap their labels on the goods. To reduce pollution emis-
sions associated with resource extraction and manufacturing, they must
therefore work with the companies in their supply chains to help them
improve their environmental performance and develop the capability to do
DFE.This is especially important where suppliers are located in developing
countries with weak pollution regulation and little practice in green
design.
16
Similarly, companies that seek to use recycled materials in production
must develop systems for acquiring the appropriate recycled materials. If
they wish to remanufacture or recycle their own products they must
develop mechanisms for taking back their old equipment.This necessitates
that they develop closer relationships with their customers as well as with
the suppliers who will be utilizing recycled materials in production.
Although these innovations may sound incredibly idealistic and eco-
nomically unrealistic, it is important to realize that regulatory developments
