Ecodesign Approaches

Question 1

Ecodesign Approaches

Answer 1

• Design for Dismantling (DfD)
• Design for Repair (DfRep)
• Design for Remanufacturing (DfRem)
• Design for Recycling (DfR)
• Design for Durability (DfDur)
• Design for Environment (DfE)
• Design for Sustainability (D4S)

Question 2

Design for Dismantling

Answer 2

• Design of a product in such a way, that it can easily be dismantled
• Optimize separation of materials & components for later recovery
• Design aspects
– Select fasteners easy to disassemble (e.g. screws instead of glues of welding)
– Provide easy access to linking elements
– Reduce the numbers of fasteners
– Use standard fasteners
– Reduce the type of fasteners
– Prefer snap fit fasteners

Question 3

Design for Dismantling (DfDis)

Answer 3

• Design for Dismantling aims to facilitate:
– Design for Repair (DfRep)
– Design for Remanufacturing (DfRem)
– Design for Recycling (DfR)

Question 4

Design for Repair (DfRep)

Answer 4

• Design of a product in such a way, that it can easily be repaired
• Design aspects:
- Ability to disassemble a product (Design for Dismantling)
- Material selection (steel easier than carbon fiber reinforced plastics)
- Modular design (exchange components)
- Customer support (availability of spare parts, etc.)
- Costs (repair cheaper than new product)
• Example: FairPhone 2

Question 5

RCAR Design Guide

Answer 5

• RCAR: Research Council for Automobile Repairs
• Manufacturers guide to ensure good design practice for repairability of cars
• General subjects
- Materials
- Joining methods ,
• Vehicle Body Panels:
- Bumper
- Front panel
- Doors, etc.
• Frame Plattforms:
- Frame design
- Crush zones

Question 6

Design
for Remanufacturing (DfRem)

Answer 6

• Remanufacturing: Rebuilding of a product to specifications of the original
product using a combination of reused, repaired and new parts
• Product is disassembled, cleaned and parts are repaired or replaced if they are:
- Broken or worn out
- Subject to degradation affecting the performance or the expected life
- Obsolete (new, better parts are available)
• A remanufactured machine matches same customer expectation as a new one
• Warranty is provided!

Question 7

Design
for Remanufacturing (DfRem)

Answer 7

• Design of a product in such a way, that it can easily be remanufactured
• Design aspects:
- Ability to disassemble a product
(Design for
- Ease of access
- Ease of information
- Ease of cleaning
(Shapes, surface structure)
- Durability
- Part complexity
- Modularisation
- Plattform design
- Cheap exterior

Question 8

Remanufacturing -benefits

Answer 8

• Economic benefits
• “Recovery” of critical raw materials in reused components
• Environmental benefits

Question 9

Design for Recycling (DfR) - End

of Life Vehicle Directive

Answer 9

• Background: Every year, end of life vehicles (ELV) generate between 7 and 8
million tons of waste in the EU
• Aim: Set out measures to prevent and limit waste from end of life vehicles
(ELVs) and their components and to ensure that where possible this is reused,
recycled or recovered.

Question 10

Design for Recycling (DfR) - End

of Life Vehicle Directive - Key points

Answer 10

• Vehicle and equipment manufacturers must factor in the dismantling, reuse
and recovery of the vehicles when designing and producing their products
• They may not use hazardous substances such as lead, mercury, cadmium and
hexavalent chromium.
• Manufacturers, importers and distributors, must provide systems to collect ELVs
and, where technically feasible, used parts from repaired passenger cars.
• There is no expense for the vehicle’s owner
• ELVs are first stripped before further treatment takes place. Hazardous
materials and components are removed and separated. Attention is given to
the potential reuse, recovery or recycling of the waste.
• They have to ensure that new vehicles are:
– Recoverable to a minimum of 85 % by weight per vehicle from 2006
– Recoverable to a minimum of 95 % by weight per vehicle from 2015

Question 11

End

of Life Vehicle Directive

Answer 11

• Directive 2000/53/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on end of
life vehicles
• Future recyclability of products has to be considered in its development!
• Driver for Design for Recycling ( DfR

Question 12

WEEE Directive

Key points

Answer 12

• Background: WEEE such as computers,
TV sets, fridges and cell phones is one
the fastest growing waste streams in the EU
(today about 10 million tones per
• Aims:
– Prevent the arising of WEEE
– to encourage reuse, recycling and recovery of WEEE
– to improve the environmental performance of all operators involved in the lifecycle
of electrical and electronic equipment
• Directive sets requirements to criteria for the collection, treatment, recycling
and recovery of WEEE

• Producers have responsibility for financing the collection, recovery and
recycling of separately collected WEEE allocated to them according to their
market shares
• Producers have to report evidence of its treatment at authorized treatment
facilities and that they have met the Directive’s recovery, recycling and reuse
targets
• Also producers are required to mark new equipment according to the
requirements of the Directive
• Distributers and retailers are obligated to provide free in store take back of
WEEE and need to ensure that the WEEE they collect is delivered to a
designated collection facility to enable the WEEE to be send for treatment and
recovery

Question 13

Aspects

of Design for Recycling ( DfR)

Answer 13

• Design of a product in such a way, that it can easily be recycled
• Design aspects:
- Dismantling
- Material choice
==> Information

Question 14

Material choice to support recycling

Answer 14

• Material choice according to compatibility in recycling

* Collecting components of same material separately to support recycling

Question 15

Information DfR

Answer 15

• Information needed for DfR
– Component identification
– Material
– Mass
– Joining elements
– Disassembly time
– Constructive relationship
– Component characteristics

IDIS: International Dismantling Information System
– Provides information on the dismantling of cars and components
– Supports the collection of components which can be recycled together

Question 16

Design for Durability (DfDur)

Answer 16

• Aim: counteract obsolescence

• Material obsolescence
• Functional obsolescence
• Psychological obsolescence
• Economic obsolescence
• Planned obsolescence Design for Dump

• Design of a product in such a way, that it can reach a long product life
• Design aspects:
- Physical durability (materials, structure)
- User behavior (maintenance)
- Stylistic durability (classic design)
- Design for Repair

Question 17

Design for Environment ( DfE)

Answer 17

• DfE : Design approach to reduce the overall environmental impact of a product,
process or service considering the entire product life cycle
• Aspects of DfE
- Free of hazardous materials
- Efficient use of raw materials
- Environmentally conscious production
- Packaging & Transportation
- Energy efficiency
- Environmental information for consumers
- Design for Repair, Remanufacturing, Recycling
- Etc.
• Analyze consequences of design choices by e.g. life cycle assessment to track
progress and avoid problem shifting!

Question 18

Design for Sustainability (D4S)

Answer 18

• D4S: Design approach to improve the environmental, social and economic
performance of a product along its product life cycle
• Expanding DfE to include social and economic impacts
• Environmental aspects:
- All DfE aspects…
• Social aspects:
- Working conditions
- Accident
- Child labour ,
• Economic aspects:
- Costs for consumers
- Profit of companies, etc.

• UNEP: Design for Sustainability – A Practical Approach for Developing Economies
− Provides guidance on design processes
− Contains general guidance on design & redesign (D4S rules of thumbs)
− Offers rather simple checklists & assessment tools