Sustainability Management Strategies – Resource Efficient Design

In the past, sustainability or design for the environment was almost always considered at the end of the design process. This is no longer the case; sustainability is no longer about the environment. It is the environment.

There should be no concept of ‘design for the environment’; it is simply ‘design.’ 

This means updating product designers’ skills and knowledge so that they know the impacts of their decisions across the complete product life cycle. 

Sustainability is becoming embedded in society. Consumers are increasingly associating long-life products, such as windows, with the environmental impact of short-life products, such as plastic straws. Research has shown that almost half of homeowners would not purchase home improvement products containing ‘plastic’ because of concerns about the impact of plastic pollution on the planet. 

Consumers are no longer differentiating between long-life and short-life products! 

At the strategic level, getting the design right is fundamental. Trying to improve sustainability after the product is designed, produced and with the consumer is futile. We must start with design. 

Action:

• Examine all design processes to ensure that sustainability is built into the design at the start.

• If design processes do not consider sustainability appropriately, then change them.

• Train designers to use design to reduce product and social costs at all stages of the product life-cycle.

• If external designers design products, review the design for sustainability before starting tooling production.

Dr. Robin Kent is the author of ‘Sustainability Management in Plastics Processing’, published by the British Plastics Federation and Managing Director of Tangram Technology Ltd. (www.tangram.co.uk), consulting engineers for energy and sustainability management in plastics processing.

Also read:

• Create and Deliver a Staff Training Course
• Set up a Sustainability Management Program
• Prepare a Sustainability Road Map for your Company
• Map Actions on Materiality
• Review where you are in Sustainability Management
• Top Management Commitment
• Create a Site Sustainability Management Policy