|
Strategies for Product Waste Minimization |
-
Source reduction
-
Extending the product life
-
Product re-use
-
Product remanufacture
-
Materials recycling
|
|
Design Strategies for Source Reduction |
-
Simplify the product: eliminate
unnecessary components
-
Use the minimum amount of material
required to meet performance requirement
-
Avoid unnecessary packaging
-
Use strong and lightweight materials
|
|
Design Strategies for Extending Product
Life |
-
Identify and eliminate potential weak
points in the design, particularly for operational parts
-
Ensure the product is designed for likely misuse as well for the
intended use
-
Design for easy maintenance and repair,
preferably by owner
-
Consider classic design or other means
that will encourage consumers to want to retain products for longer
periods
|
|
Design Strategies for Re-usable Crockery
and Packaging |
-
Ensure that the product is strong enough
to withstand repeated collection, handling, washing and refilling
-
Ensure that cleaning processes meet standards for food, beverage and
personal care products
-
Use-in-mould labels rather than paper and
plastic labels (which can be washed off or accidentally removed)
-
Design packaging for a number of ways of
re-use (for return to the manufacturer/retailer for refilling; for
re-use at home)
|
|
Design Strategies for Product and
Materials Recycling |
|
Simple Products
(packaging and other single-material products)
-
Choose materials that are commonly
recycled
-
Ensure that materials used for labels, adhesives and caps are
compatible with the primary material (or can be removed in the
recycling process)
Disassembly and
Recycling
-
Minimize material variety
-
Use compatible materials
-
Specify use of materials with recycled content
-
Consolidate parts
-
Reduce the number of assembly operations
-
Simplify and standardize component fits and interfaces
-
Identify separation points between parts
-
Use water-soluble adhesives where possible
-
Mark materials to enhance separation
|
|
Design Strategies for Minimal Consumption |
-
Design the product to minimize the use of extra materials
-
Offer feedback to consumers on when replacement consumables are
required to save wastage
-
Determine if consumables can be replaced
by re-useable items
|
|
Design Strategies for Minimizing the
Impact of Disposal |
|
|
|
Waste minimization is a series of cyclical
systems where materials are re-used or re-cycled as part of a closed loop.
The Tree
of Business
Design for Environment
Design for Environment (DfE), also known as
eco-design and green design, recognizes that environmental impacts must be
considered during the
new product design
process, along with all of the usual design criteria.
The purpose of green design is to evaluate and identify ways to minimize the
environmental burden resulting from products...
More
Life Cycle Assessment
Life cycle assessment (LCA)
is a process for analyzing the environmental impacts generated over the
entire life cycle of a product from provision of raw materials to final
disposal of the product...
More
Cleaner Production
By its definition,
cleaner
production is a
business strategy for
enhancing productivity and environmental performance for overall
socio-economic development.
Cleaner production processes are
those that produce less waste, whether in terms of liquid wastes discharged
to waterways, solid wastes going to landfill or gaseous wastes discharged to
the air...
More
Case in Point
Canon
Eliminating 9 Wastes
The objectives of
Canon Production
System (CPS) are to manufacture better quality products at lower
cost and deliver them faster.
Canon invited all their employees to suggest
ideas for improvement and developed 6 Guidelines for the Suggestion System
to make it most effective. The company developed also a list of
9 wastes
to help their employees become problem-conscious, move from operational
improvement to systems improvement, and recognize the need for
self-development...
More
Lean Production Overview
The Seven Wastes to be eliminated include
overproduction, waiting, transportation, inventory, motion, over-processing,
and defective units...
More
Case in Point
Toyota
The 7
Principles of
Toyota
Production System
(TPS) are:
-
Pull Production:
To reduce inventory holding costs and
lead times, Toyota developed the pull production method wherein the
quantity of work performed at each stage of the
process is dictated solely by demand for materials from the
immediate next stage.
The Kamban scheme coordinates the flow
of small containers of materials between stages. This is where the
term
Just-in-Time (JIT)
originated. ..
More
8 Best Practices of Successful
Companies
|
