It’s according to EU research that over 80% of all product-related environmental impacts can be influenced during the design phase. That’s an incredibly powerful piece of information to go into product development with.
When it comes to circularity, it means we have the chance to design everything better.
Last week, the POC Academy explored the circular economy and its key pillar to ‘design out waste’ from the very outset of a product’s creation. Just like nature, we ought to be better designing our product to make the most efficient use of material and design away all those points at which waste occurs. Nature doesn’t produce waste, so why do we?
In recognition of the role design plays in all of this, there have been increasing calls for designers and clients to adopt more sustainable practices to help businesses reduce the environmental impacts associated with their products and services.
We have, for example, seen the rise of biomimicry, a process in which the science of nature is studies to be emulated in the material or product properties of what we make. By copying nature’s designs, we can perhaps relearn her secrets to doing so without creating waste and living in balance with the planet and her biodiversity.
Over the last couple of weeks, we have focused our attention on the prevention and minimisation of waste from our products. We’ve looked at the Circular Economy through the lens of the licensed apparel specialist, Teemill and the transition to more circular packaging with the help of LEGO and the supermarket giant, Tesco.
This week, we’re going to continue our dive into the waste management hierarchy and explore the concept of reuse in more depth.
Designing a product for reuse – not for recycling
Okay, recycling may have its place somewhere, but as we know that place is well towards the bottom of the waste management hierarchy. And, while recyclability is an important aspect for product design – because this is where we can recover the value of materials at the very end of life of a product – reuse is a far, far better way of maximising the potential of materials beyond their first life, saving both energy and resources – dramatically.
However – and as we know – the reusability of a product is determined solely in its design phase. So, for a product to be fit for reuse, it must be designed to be reliable, durable, able to preserve quality, and it must be easy to repair.
And to be easily repairable, it must be designed in a way that parts are easy to access, easy to disassemble, and be modular – making it more accessible for repair, refurbishment, and – in the end – efficient recycling.
The right to repair
In March this year, the European Commission proposed – as part of its New Consumer Agenda and Circular Economy Action Plan – a new ‘right to repair’ piece of legislation with the aim of boosting the repair economy and furthering the EU’s ambition to become the first climate neutral continent by 2050.
The proposal will incentivise sellers to develop more sustainable business models that promote reuse by offering repair and maintenance services on products they already own. The initiative will see the roll-out of an online matchmaking repair platform to connect customers with repairers and sellers of refurbished goods in their area. Furthermore, a European quality standard for repair services will be developed to help consumers identify repairers who commit to a higher quality.
A recent survey found that 77% of Europeans feel a personal responsibility to limit climate change. The act of discarding products prematurely has, to date, resulted in 35 million tonnes of waste, 30 million tonnes of recourse, and 261 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions in the EU every year. The potential for reuse to impact positively upon these figures cannot be overstated.
Legislation has a major role to play in influencing business and consumer approach to products. The European Green Deal is the overarching legislative directive to drive sustainability across the continent. It will be up to each member state to adopt and impose the rules through best-fit models.
In France, for example, a recently announced scheme to cut down on the 700,000 tonnes of waste clothing that gets thrown away each year is incentivising citizens to ‘stitch’ rather than ‘ditch’ their old clothing. The government scheme will pay French residents a ‘repair bonus’ for choosing to have old garments mended instead of throwing them away.
Here in the UK, plans to introduce reuse through legislative movement is somewhat slower. The Extended Producer Responsibility tax – a tax that will shift obligation and responsibility on covering the cost of end-of-life processes of products from the consumer onto the producer – has just been delayed until 2025.
Of course, the greatest drawback to such financial incentives (placing the UK government’s inability to act with conviction upon the matter, of course) is that it only goes part of the way towards tackling the greatest affliction to be perpetuated by the linear ‘take-make-throw away’ economy, and that is the relationship between the customer and the product they choose.
The emotional connection
The Swedish furniture specialist, IKEA is on a mission to become a fully circular business by 2030. It’s a commitment it sees as both a ‘great challenge and an opportunity to reshape how we see value in the things around us.’
While the business understands there is no single recipe for circular product design, recognising it is rather a combination of product design principles, IKEA is lending credence to the emotional relationship a customer can – and ought to – have with the product they engage with.
“Objects that hold memories and tell stories are special because they represent and remind us of the most important parts of our lives. Those memories are more important than the product itself,” IKEA’s circular product design manifesto tells us.
“Each customer creates their own story around how they acquire, care for, and pass on the product. By providing a positive experience through all the phases of this journey, they can build an emotional connection to the product.
“Another way to create a connection is to include unique details in the design of the product. This could be through possibilities to personalise, develop meaningful collaborations, shared designer intentions, handmade production, and limited editions.”
Given that the $340bn global brand licensing industry is founded on the very principle of driving emotional connections between a product and its potential owner, ours is an industry filled with potential for hugely successful reuse economy. So, what’s stopping us?
By using the Products of Change Sustainability Framework, brands and manufacturing partners can begin that process of transitioning to more circular business models by tackling not only the product design principles but also the numerous blockades found in the legal language and licensing contracts that play too large a part in stunting the industry’s growth potential of a reuse economy.
USING THE PRODUCTS OF CHANGE INDUSTRY FRAMEWORK
The Products of Change Industry Framework has been billed as a “game-changing” resource developed by the industry for the industry offering a step-by-step guide to transitioning the $340bn global licensing industry towards a more sustainable and positive future.
“This framework will be a great resource for any company, no matter where they are on their sustainability journey,” said Danilo’s Claire Bates. “The creation of useful resources such as this will also help Products of Change continue its great work of educating and driving sustainable change.”
The Industry Framework is available to download here.
The Framework has been launched to be used in tandem with the educational content Products of Change provides through the Education portal as well as its library of content across On Demand video and podcasts. Products of Change members, make use of the resources available to you via the Members Hub and remember to share your progress with the POC community as you take on the journey of sustainable development.
