Resource Efficiency Seminar
Eco Design
Content
 What is eco
design?
Larkin
Engineering
Global warming
co Design
What is Eco design
 ”the systematic consideration, during new
production and process development, of
design issues associated with environmental
safety and health over the full product life
cycle”
Benefits of Eco design
 Products designed with environmental
considerations in mind will result in products
which are less costly to own and operate and less
damaging to the environment.
Case study
Larkin Engineering
 Company background:
 Larkin Engineering is a small company based in Tuam, Co. Galway,
which manufactures street furniture. The company is committed to
reducing the environmental impact of their activity and products. A
few projects have been going on in a few areas: Design for
Environment (DfE), rain water harvesting, waste minimisation,
energy savings, extending product life.
Timetable carousal
The LCA/Eco Design Initiative
 Why:
 To improve the environmental performance of their products but
also to gain new customers and to enter new markets
 What:
 Re-designed the company products using eco design techniques
 Introduced a rainwater harvesting system for the water jet cutter
 Identified and eliminated the energy losses due to the compressor
improper use
 Carried out an LCA study to compare old design with new design
Background
Old design, product made of metal, manufactured in
China
2. New design, product made of virgin polyethylene
(PE)
3. The same new design, product made of recycled
polyethylene
1.
Flow diagram for metal carousel
Flow diagram virgin polyethylene
Flow diagram recycled
polyethylene
Environmental benefits
Global warming and non-renewable fossil fuel are the two indicators:
 Metal carousel the highest impact (22.06kg CO2eq, 294.6MJ eq).
 Carousel made of virgin PE lower impact (7.66kg CO2eq, 113.22MJ eq)
 Carousel made of recycled PE the lowest impact (3.48kg CO2eq, -94.15MJ eq
 The impact category ‘non-renewable fossil fuel’ for the house is 60,900MJ eq
As seen the fuel indicator outlined above for the three alternatives is
equivalent to the following:
 2,000 pieces made from metal plastic mitigates to enough heat for 10.5 houses
for one year
 2,000 pieces of virgin carousel will provide sufficient energy to heat 3.5 houses
for one year.
 2,000 pieces from recycled polyethylene mitigates the effect of heating 2 such
houses for one year.
Economic benefits
Previous price from China: €50.30
Manufactured in Tuam: €32
1.
Ireland :
2.
Portugal:
3.
United Kingdom:
120 Litre Jumbo bin
Background
 Old design, before the DfE training
 New design, after the application of DfE techniques
 Refurbished bin, a new solution considered by the
company. Old bins are taken back, refurbished and sent
back to the customer.
Flow diagram for 120 litre Jumbo
bin
Sand
Rain water
Electricity
Transportation
Transportation
Transportation
Supplier
10 mm steel sheet
Water jet
cutting
Base
Galvanising
Electricity
Base
Argon
Waste
MIG Welding
Bin
Electricity
Body
Transportation
Supplier
2 mm steel sheet
Electricity
Electricity
CNC cutting
Brake press
bending
Body
Spray painting
Transportation
Bin
Customer
Waste
Electricity
CNC cutting
plates
Plate
Paint
Eco design savings are as follows:
 120 litre Jumbo Bin
 38% saving on raw material.
 Financial saving of €40 per bin.
 20% reduction in VOC emissions compared to 2008 figures.
 30% reduction in plant operating hours due top efficient world
class manufacturing techniques
 Management have committed to a sustainable business model
and are applying eco-design, take-back of old and damaged
bins as well as having achieved accreditation to ISO14001 in
November 2011.
JFC Manufacturing
 Equivalent of 26% less
plastic is used to supply
water to the same number
of cow.
 New product is 100%
recyclable
 Stick on labels have been
removed.
Life cycle assessment of RADICA
 Scenario 1: Use RADICA to decontaminate 100 mattresses in
house
 Scenario 2: Use washer/dryer system to decontaminate off
site using traditional disinfection and detergents.
Energy:
15% reduction in electricity consumption
LCA Comparison
Environmental impact:
 RADICA would require the
equivalent of 3 trees to
absorb the CO2 produced
 Off site decontamination
would require 165 tress to
absorb the CO2 produced.
Lessons:
 Use different type of plastic
or a permanent solution
How to Implement Eco Design
in Your Business
 Introducing eco design to a company may come from
management down to the designers or the designers may
introduce it incrementally and build expertise and
experience
Steps
1. Convince
senior
management of
the importance
of eco design to
business
success
2. Build the
design team
3. Introduce eco
design in pilot
projects
1. Convince management
Arguments in favour of eco design include:
 It is cost effective
 It offers new solutions for products e.g. savings in weight and volume,
energy efficiency
 It provides opportunities for value creation e.g. reuse and recycling
 It is good for marketing – better company image, competitive
advantage
 Being proactive means cost savings and meeting forthcoming
legislation requirement in the long term
2: Build the design team
Creative
solutions
Product design
Supply
chain,
cost
targets
Market
requests,
competitors
Purchasing
Ecodesign
team
Marketing
Environmental
mgmt.
Production
Technical
input
3:Start DfE pilot project
Define scope and task
Environmental impact of reference product
Generate and select idea
Work out the solution
Complete final assessment
Introduce to market
Monitor
Eco Design Techniques
 Design for material minimisation
 Design for minimisation of hazardous materials
 Design for energy efficiency
 Design for waste reduction
 Design for cleaner production
 Design for durability
 Design for disassembly
 Design for serviceability
 Design for reuse
 Design for remanufacturing
 Design for recycling
Design for waste reduction
 What it is:
 The practice of designing a product so that its entry to the waste
stream is postponed by reuse, remanufacture and recycling
 Principles of technique:
The same principles as listed in the following techniques:
 Design for material minimisation
 Design for durability
 Design for reuse
 Design for remanufacture
 Design for recycling
Design for Disassembly
 What it is:
 The practice of using assembly methods and configurations that allow
cost-effective separation and recovery of reusable components and
materials
 Type 1: disassembly for reuse, remanufacturing and service –
concerned with the careful removal of parts for reuse.
 Type 2: disassembly for recycling and disposal – not concerned with the
integrity of the parts or the fasteners.
 Example: Smart cars
 Smart cars are designed for disassembly so that individual parts can be
replaced if necessary and the discarded parts can be recycled
 It is 95% recyclable
 Thank you!
 samminjohn@speco.ie