Ideas Design Solution(P)Ltd.
All products have the potential to be designed with sustainability in mind if engineers really think about making products better while using materials that positively affect the environment.
Economically and environmentally, those manufacturers who are smart about designing their products for ease of reclamation should actually reap financial benefits from doing so.
Optimization means designing parts and assemblies with as little mass as possible, yet with just enough to resist failures under normal operating conditions.
Minimal material use: Can you change the wall thickness of a part from half an inch to three-eighths of an inch without compromising its functionality? (ex: housing for a wide-screen TV)
Improved material choices: Is there a plastic that wasn't available ten years ago, that would make this part easier to produce, recycle, or transport, for the same cost? (ex: specify recyclable high-density polyethylene (HDPE) instead of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS))
Design for ease of disassembly: Can the product be designed to be taken apart, either for repair or selective recycling? (ex: use tabs to connect parts, rather than glue)
Product reuse or recycling at end of life: Can the product be designed in a modular fashion, so that one part can be replaced to upgrade its function (ex: rethink throwaway cell phones by selling a consumer-replaceable slide-in memory/function board)
Minimal energy consumption: Is there a different method or machine for building or operating the system that uses less energy to run? (ex: redesign oxygen-flow mask so it uses lower-pressure, less expensive pump-system at the consumer end)
Manufacture without producing hazardous waste (ex: the successful elimination of lead-based solder)
Use of clean technologies as a fundamental mindset (ex: hybrid automotive engines)
Ideas Design Solution(P)Ltd.
