Waste Mitigation Strategies

What are Waste Mitigation Strategies?

• Strategies used to reduce the waste produced by a product or in the production and disposal of a product.

Pollution vs Waste

• Most production processes result in the creation of pollution or waste during the various stages of production, from raw material extraction to transport, processing, manufacture and packaging.
• Pollution and waste come in many forms such as excess heat, exhaust gases, chemical discharges, product rejects and leftover packaging.

Pollution

• Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change.
• Pollution can take the form of chemical substances or energy, such as noise heat or light.
• Pollutants, the components of pollution, can be either foreign substances, energies or naturally occurring contaminants.

Waste

• Wastes are unwanted or unusable materials.
• Waste is any substance which is discarded after primary use, or it is worthless, defective and of no use.

Geographical Scale

• The environmental problems of pollution and waste from producing, using and disposing of products can cause issues on various geographical scales.

Local Scale

• Noise, smell, air pollution.
• Soil and water pollution.

Regional Scale

• Soil and water over-fertilization and pollution.
• Drought
• Waste disposal
• Air pollution

Fluvial Scale

• Processes associated with rivers and streams.
• Pollution of rivers, regional waters and watersheds.

Continental Scale

• Ozone levels, acidification, winter smog, heavy metals.

Global Scale

• Climate change, rising sea levels, impact on the ozone layer.

Methodologies of Waste Reduction

• Some methodologies for waste reduction and designing out waste are:
  • Product recovery and re-use.
  • Avoid use of unnecessary packaging.
  • Produce / manufacture to order; eliminate oversupply.
  • Optimize production efficiency to reduce waste.
  • Material substitution that favors recycling.
  • Use energy efficient equipment and lighting.
  • Storage designed to reduce product deterioration.
  • Quality assurance practices to reduce rejects based on poor quality.

Dematerialization

• The reduction of total material and energy throughput of any product and service.
• Reducing of waste and pollution.
• A product's life cycle consists of the following stages:
  • Resource Acquisition
    • Extraction
    • Transformation
  • Production
    • Assembly
    • Packaging
  • Distribution
    • Storage
    • Handling
    • Transport
  • Use
    • Maintenance
    • Repair
    • Reuse
  • End-of-life
    • Collection
    • Recycling
    • Energy recovery
    • Landfilling

• Dematerialization can be achieved through the reduction of:
  • The need for material and energy in the extraction stage.
  • Raw materials usage at the production stage.
  • Transportation in the distribution stage.
  • Energy and material inputs at the user stage.
  • Waste at the disposal stage.

• Dematerialization can improve the product efficiency by reducing, re-using or recycling materials and components:

Re-use

• The use of (parts) of materials of obsolete products.

Recycle

• Use of recycled materials.

Reduce

• Reduce the materials needed.

Circular Economy

• The use of waste as a resource within a closed loop system.
• A circular economy is an economy model in which:
  • Resources remain in use for as long as possible.
  • From which maximum value is extracted while in use.
  • Products and materials are recovered and regenerated at the end of the product life cycle.
• The concept of a circular economy requires designers to consider the subsequent use of materials, components and the embedded energy in a product.
• This can only be achieved by innovative design and consideration of further cycle of development.
• Designers must ask themselves the question: "How can this product be made to be made again?"

Linear Economy

• An economy based on the make, use, dispose model.
  • Has been traditionally used by people.
  • However, linear economies are not sustainable.

Product Recovery Strategies

• The processes of separating the component parts of a product to recover the parts and materials.
• A circular economy requires product recovery strategies.
• Product recovery strategies (at the end of life) are:
  • Re-use
  • Repair
  • Recycle
  • Cradle to cradle
  • Design for disassembly

The 6 Rs

Reduce

• The reduction of total material.
  • For example, a toothbrush with a hole in the handle to reduce plastic usage.

Re-use

• Reuse of a product in the same context or in a different context.
• It requires product recovery strategies; processes of separating the component parts of a product to recover the parts.
  • Examples include water bottles, plastic bags, glass bottles, toothbrush and clothes.

Recycle

• Recycling refers to using the materials from obsolete products to create other products.
• It requires the recovery of raw materials; strategies for the separation of components of a product in order to recover raw materials.
  • Examples include glass, paper, aluminum cans, thermoplastics and newspapers.

Re-Engineer

• Also called rethinking or redesigning.
• To redesign components or products to improve their characteristics or performance.
  • For example, cars where aerodynamics is changed (shape) or lighter new materials used.

Recondition

• Also called refurbishing.
• Rebuilding a product so that it is in an "as new" condition, and is generally used in the context of car engines and tires.
  • Examples include renovating a house, cars (engines/regular service) and watches service (to make it last longer).

Repair

• The reconstruction or renewal of any part of an existing structure or device.
• For comparison, recondition focuses on the entire product, whereas repairing only focuses on specific parts.
  • Examples include washing machine belt, shoe soles, computer screens and repair bicycle inner tube.

Cradle to Grave vs Cradle to Cradle

Cradle to Grave

• A design philosophy that considers the environmental effects of a product all the way from manufacture to disposal.

Cradle to Cradle

• A design philosophy that aims to eliminate the waste from the production, use and disposal of a product.
• It centers on products which are made to be made again.

Design for Disassembly

• Designing a product so that when it becomes obsolete it can be easily and economically taken apart, the components reused or repaired, and the materials recycled.