Sustainable Product Development In Waste Collection Related Products

Transcription

1 Sustainable Product Development In Waste Collection Related Products Sjef de Bruijn & Reinier den Boer, Environmental Solutions Europe Holding (ESEH), R&D Contact Sjef de Bruijn & Reinier den Boer Environmental Solutions Europe Holding b.v. Vrijthof 50/ LE Maastricht The Netherlands s.debruijn@ese-group.net r.denboer@ese-group.net Executive Summary This paper shows how sustainable product development is integrated in the product development of waste collection products at OTTO/ESEH. The Dutch government has an ambitious program to have by 2010 all government agencies buying 100% sustainable products. This demand for sustainable products will be added to the requirement standards of any government related purchase, and will therefore directly affect the purchase of waste collection related products. These objectives will take effect a lot sooner than anybody in the supply industry is expecting and will have a serious impact on the future waste collection related products. We at OTTO/ESEH have started for some years with an increasing focus on sustainable product development. More and more products out of this approach are now entering the market. Sustainable product development is defined (leaning on the Brundtland definition) as: Product development in its widest sense in order to obtain solutions that allow to a maximum to fulfill the needs of the present generation, without compromising the ability of the future generation to meet their own needs. This kind of product development uses current best-in-class products as reference for improvement. It is a continuous improvement process. In the development of waste collection related products, a product lifecycle analysis tool is used to identify possible optimization aspects in the area of environmental sustainability. The LIDS (LIfecycle Design Strategy)-wheel, as developed at the Delft University of Technology, is discussed. The field of application of the LIDS-wheel is shown in the paper. The product is studied on the base of 8 criteria and solutions are sought to optimize. The solutions are not restricted to the product itself, but can very well lead to solutions in terms of changed logistics or organization. The objective was to optimize the functionality in collection of waste as a value-material, with the use of as less material and energy as possible. Moreover, the goal was to find a design

2 which supports a long lifetime of a product or a flexibility to adjust to changing community policies. In the paper we show sustainable product development approaches, tow different waste collection related products with clearly different characteristics: High investment mass produced individual container systems (2 wheel bins); Low investment, custom made, business office waste collectors. A comparison is given between current and sustainable waste collection products and the effect that sustainable product development can already have e.g. with regards to collection, transport and recycling. On both products, typical improvements are given, which have been realized over the last years. This includes the use of recycling materials, use of less material, use of standardized parts, use of new technologies, like injection compression moulding to allow less raw material usage, and use of (semi-)transparent materials to allow a more efficient collection (only collected full bins). It is shown that the sustainable product development approach works and even has positive side effects towards higher product quality and lower costs. The tool of Lifecycle Design Strategies proved to work well as from the conceptual phase up to the final evaluation of the product before implementation in the market. Some sustainable alternatives still encounter resistance in the market, like e.g. the use of more post consumer recycling materials, while this is not (yet) accepted in conservatively written tenders. Important is to know that the sustainable product development process is a continuous process in which the product at the end of each individual product development should serve as a reference for the next product. Introduction The Dutch have in the world some reputations. One of them is being the most advanced in implementing laws & guidelines on environmental issues, on which the Dutch industry in turn reacts with pioneering work on these issues. Pioneering work, which proved to pay off in the export, following upon the lagging introduction of similar guidelines & laws in other countries. Now again, the Dutch government has taken an initiative which will allow entrepreneurs to be innovative and earn thier investments back on the Dutch home market. This innovative approach will certainly benefit Dutch entrepreneurs in the near future on the market of followers within Europe and outside Europe. The program will force all Dutch government agencies to purchase 100% sustainable products. This will have a major impact on the market, knowing that the actual market for a lot of products is currently mainly price driven. Tenders are mainly focused towards obtaining the lowest possible product cost. With this new program, the trend will be clearly towards a market where environmental sustainability has a valued influence on the tender outcome. Although the market of waste related products is strongly linked to environment, limited examples can be shown on sustainable product development. As leader in its market, ESEH is clearly a pioneer in sustainable product development in waste related products.

3 In the paper we show sustainable product development approaches for various waste collection products with clearly different characteristics: High investment mass produced container systems (2-wheel bins); Low investment, custom made public furnishing litterbins and office waste collectors; Medium investment, long development time and serial produced Underground Waste Systems. But before going into these case studies an explanation will be given about the background of sustainability and the method for developing and optimizing products towards sustainability. Definition sustainability product development Leaning on the definition of sustainable development defined by the Brundtland commission, [1] Environmental sustainable product development is in this paper defined as: product development in its widest sense, in order to obtain solutions that allow to a maximum to fulfill the needs of the present generation, without compromising the ability of the future generation to meet their own needs. Two remarks are to be made to this definition. We like to speak about solutions instead of products, while the total life cycle of the product should be observed, analyzed and evaluated and can lead to solutions which go beyond product changes. As an example, assembly on site can lead to lower impact on the environment while less transport volume is needed, but is implies more significant changes in the logistics and organization than in the product itself. We like to speak about to a maximum, while it means the process of development does not end, once the product is on the market, this just means that the level of reference is newly defined and is to be improved by a new cycle of sustainable product development. Method for Sustainability in development of waste related systems ESEH uses for its sustainable product development a life cycle design strategy as developed by the TUDelft, Delft University of technology, The Netherlands. The lifecycle design strategy consists out of two possible approaches; a qualitative and a quantitative approach. The qualitative approach is represented by the so-called Lids-wheel [2]. This strategy defines 8 possible sustainable design strategies and can be particularly useful in the early stages of the product development process. (See Figure 1). Sustainable design Strategies : 1. Choose low-impact materials 2. Reduce material use 3. Use production techniques with low-environmental impact 4. Select low-environmental impact distribution system 5. Reduce energy and material use, low-production of toxic materials in use-phase of product. 6. Optimize product lifetime 7. Optimize end of life system And the most important:

4 8. Product design review: Evaluate product functionality for an overall low environmental impact These strategies can be used to make a comparison between an existing situation and a desirable and realistic future situation. When following these strategies as a checklist of environmental requirement decision points, this quickly helps defining improvements in the area of environmental sustainability of the product. This qualitative approach offers a way to make decisions when a product is not completely defined yet. The quantitative approach however, has a very detailed cumulative process where it includes all energy use in all stages of the product life cycle. This calculation can be made in eco-points which is referring to the direct and indirect energy use of a product during all phases in a lifecycle of a product. This gives a detailed insight in the difference of environmental impact between different product concepts or varieties. Figure 1 LIDS wheel Life cycle Design Strategies [2]

5 Case study I: Sustainable product development of 2-wheel container systems 2-wheel containers, (see figure 2 ) are widely spread over the world since its introduction. The product requires high investments in expensive moulds, but are also sold in very large numbers, making a reasonable return on investment feasible. Using the sustainable design strategies as listed in Figure 1, the following examples can be given for new product development and product improvement: ICM lid, weight reduction Increased stack ability Hollow axles instead of solid Figure 2 Sustainable Improvement areas for 2-wheel containers (top), LIDS wheel, filled in for 2-wheel container, Current situation (left), achieved product solution (right) 1. Low-impact materials use of partly recycled materials in production. The work of ESEH is strongly focused on keeping up and guaranteeing the mechanical properties as well as maintaining of color while using post consumer material in production. Moreover, a lot of effort is put in recovering old bins per color for use in new products. Unfortunately, a lot of tenders in Europe do not allow high recycling percentages, although for example in Sweden higher ratio of recycling are clearly demanded in tenders. 2. Reduce material use Less plastics and less metals. As an example more and more hollow axles are applied in order to reduce the material used, see figure 3 In our search for further improvement, we realized an even more significant optimization which is obtained by changing from the traditional injection moulding process to the injection

6 compression moulding (ICM) process. With this process, the material use of a container lid is reduced with up to 50%, with even better quality level (less breakage), while more dimensional stable. See figure 3 Figure 3 ICM lid (left) Hollow axles to reduce the use of raw materials in 2-wheel containers (right) 3. Reduce energy use in production optimized cycle times by alternative processes. The ICM process gave showed a significant reduction of the cycle time, and thus the energy consumption for the production of the same functional product. 4. Low-impact distribution Optimize containers for stacking and transport, optimize logistical systems. 2-wheel bins are transported from the factory to the client stacked, without the wheels and axles mounted (except for the lowest one). The client needs to receive the bins with one axle and 2 wheels per bin. In order to stack as many products as possible per stack, a practical limitation arrives while the axle length on the bottom of one container, does not allow to stack on the next one unless a certain height is respected, thus limiting an optimized stacking, thus transport. ESEH solved this problem by putting the axles on the outside of the bins, clearly visible and not hindering the stacking height. See figure 4 Figure 4 Sacking of unassembled 2-wheelcontainers with externally placed axles for optimized stacking in transport 5. Reduce energy and material use, production of toxic materials in use-phase of product. Here we introduced a special additive in the plastic used, to reduce the need of cleaning and maintenance of container systems. Moreover, larger volumes bins have been developed in order to allow the collector have less emptying cycles. Of course inserts are developed to promote maximal waste separation. 6. Optimize product lifetime A continuous standardization has been taken place over the last years within ESEH, such that the spare parts are now similar and readily available. 7. Optimize end of life system Recycle containers as a high quality mono-material, and even mono-color in order to reuse it in new containers. Evaluate product functionality for an overall low environmental impact The most important environmental impact with regard to a 2 wheel container are in the daily to (bi-) weekly emptying. The emptying should thus be as efficient as possible. ESEH has developed

7 for example transparent containers for the city of Naples, allowing the collection company to see if collection is needed or not.

8 Case study II: Sustainable multi-fraction waste collector for the office environment. An example of a product which not only is developed to be a sustainable waste collection product, but also supports the sustainability in waste collection functionality 100% recycled plastic Optimized use of pre coated steel sheet Optimized functional fulfillment of the product, separating waste streams Figure 5 Multi fraction waste collector(top) analyses current product solutions (left), analysis achieved solution using LIDS-wheel strategies (right) 1. Low-impact materials The base and top of the product are constructed out of 100% recycled material. The steel used is produced party +/- 20% out of recycled steel, all materials used are recyclable. 2. Reduce material use The collector is optimized in material use. The overall dimensions follow out of standard sheet sizes to minimize scrap. 3. Reduce energy use in production Pre-coated material is used to take out extra movements in the logistical chain. 4. Low-impact distribution Efficient transport dimensions and packaging 5. Reduce energy and material use, production of toxic materials in use-phase of product. Decrease the environmental impact during use-phase by application of biodegradable bags. 6. Optimize product lifetime The product is flexible to adjust to future policy changes; add or removal of a waste fraction is possible without complete replacement of the bin. Easily replaceable parts. 7. Optimize end of life system The product can easily be taken apart for recycling of the different materials 8. Optimization of the product functionality itself the bin collects 5 different waste streams which are collected through a supporting separated waste stream logistics. The product forms a display in a large government organization to emphasize the sustainable thinking in the organization.

9 The future of Sustainable product development in waste collection related products Critics can say that producing products from materials that are not renewable cannot be sustainable. ESEH however feels a responsibility to start with a situation as it exists today, of producing products from not renewable materials to a situation where we minimize the environmental impact, e.g. by using less material and energy. Moreover, the function of the product should support an environmentally sustainable use during product life. Sustainable product development is not a one step process, but a process of continuous improvement. Going through a sustainable product development process for different products, has learned us that this process does not only lead to an improved sustainability of products but often also to increased quality and reduced costs, see figure 6. Figure 6 positive effects of environmental sustainable product development on increased quality and costs-advantages Conclusions It is shown that there are plenty of options for increasingly sustainable products. Some options, like e.g. the use of more post consumer recycling materials, are however not (yet) accepted in tenders while these are too conservative. Sustainability in product design for waste related products is possible and yields besides its obvious advantage for the environment also other advantages like the overall product quality, like in the example of the dimensional more stable ICM lid. Sustainable product development in waste collection related products is not a one-off project, but a continuous process of optimization. Each end of a product development sets the reference and the challenges for a new product development cycle. Acknowledgements The authors like to thank Arjan van Wessem from Gebr. OTTO-Nederland b.v., for his help in realizing and implementing sustainability in the abovementioned products. He proved to keep up the reputation of the Dutch having a sustainable vision and being advanced within the world in implementing environmental measurements. References 1. Brundtland, Brundtland Report, Our Common Future, Brezet, Van Hemel, UNEP Manual on Ecodesign, Ecodesign Strategy wheel,1997