Design for Waste Reduction
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Basics
- A Part of the “Design for X” Series
- Essentially design products such that (Non-Biodegradable and/or Fossil Based) Plastics are only used where absolutely necessary
- Furthermore Product End of Life is heavily considered and optimized for
- Reusing as much as possible, and in the case of consumables such as Toiletries etc, optimizing a “Refill” ecosystem to reduce Packaging Waste in refills and such is advised
- For sections such as Packaging that ARE to become waste, optimizing for Reuse, Ease of Cleaning/Sorting (especially by Automated Means in a Materials Recovery Facility / in Single Stream Recycling etc) or for Destruction in W2E plants is also advisable
- For instance use Rigid Plastic instead of Plastic Films
- Use Monolithic Materials rather than “Multilayer Bags” etc
- Rigid easy to clean plastic containers rather than Tetrapacks
- Easily burnable Paper or Cardboard / Molded Pulp rather than Plastic
- NOT STYROFOAM
Areas
Toiletries
- For Soap/Shampoo/Conditioner design around
- A Durable, Maintainable Dispenser
- Bulk Refills
- Potentially Selling a Concentrate that is “reconstituted” with Deionized Water
- For Dish Detergent / Laundry Detergent , using concentrates or powders as-is is easier, for directly used products such as most toiletries this becomes more difficult
- Notable exception of Toothpaste Tablets
Lighters
- Refillable Butane Lighters rather than Disposable Butane Lighters
- Plasma Lighters / Electronic Ignition rather than Disposable Piezoelectric Ignition
- Although if produced Sustainably, Piezoelectric Polymers / Piezoelectric Biomaterials if available in COTS components that could be swapped in would suffice
- Most COTS piezoelectric materials are either (Mined) Quartz or Lead Compounds
- Although if produced Sustainably, Piezoelectric Polymers / Piezoelectric Biomaterials if available in COTS components that could be swapped in would suffice
Fuel
- Optimize around filling at Filling Stations or using Cascade Storage
- Such as 1LB Propane Tanks, Refilled from a 20Lb Tank, Refilled at a Store