Manufacture, repair, maintenance and disposal

• six Rs of sustainability

  The key points that need to be considered in order to make products sustainable.
• sustainability

  the managements of resources to minimise depletion and pollution
• recycle

  recovering the parts and materials from unwanted products to be used again
• reduce

  minimising wastage and excess materials or packaging
• refuse


  avoiding unsustainable materials or products
• repair

  designing products so that they can be put back in working order if something breaks or goes wrong
• rethink

  considering whether there are more sustainable alternatives
• reuse


  Making it possible to use products again rather than discarding them
• ways of promoting recycling

  - ease of disassembly

  - dyson - collects vacuums customers no long want, or are at end of life, and disassembles them to dispose of each component correctly
• how to promote 'reduce'

  - nesting - next components on one board of material
• upcycling


  this is the creative reuse of unwanted products and materials resulting in outcomes with high quality or environmental worth than the original
• maintenance

  - some products are difficult to maintain/ repair - e.g., products with water tight seals or other elements that protect internal components making it difficult to access them
• the waste and resources

  - UK charity

  - concerned with using resources in a more sustainable way

  - has published several buying specification guides for durability and repair
• ease of manufacture

  - make products as efficiently as possible

  - modular approach

  - standardised parts

  - advanced soldering

  - self finishing materials

  - use redistribution where possible

  - factory planning and layout simulation software - layout machinery in most logical and efficient manner

  - use adhesives rather than mechanical fasteners
• disassembly

  taking apart products for maintenance or to reclaim parts and materials
• disassembly - integral fittings


  if designed in such a way they can easily be released they can be very beneficial for disassembly
• disassembly - smart materials

  SMA (shape memory alloy) and SMP (shape memory poymer) fastening can be used to hold together elements in products such as mobile phones and can be very useful for disassembly