Design for Environment (DfE) Making products green - really

1. Toxics Use Reduction Institute Design for Environment (DfE)Making products green - really Mark Myles Clark University Materials & Energy Sustainability 26 February 2011

2. MA Toxics Use Reduction • 50% reduction in generation of toxic waste by 1997 through TUR • Establish TUR as the preferred means of regulatory compliance • Sustain and promote the competitive position of Massachusetts industry • Promote reduction in the production of toxic and hazardous substances • Enhance and coordinate state agency enforcement of environmental laws

3. Great Philosophical Dilemmas of the 21st Century Paper? OR Plastic? (polystyrene)

4. Wood product use: 33g Petroleum material: 4.1g Steam: 9-12 tonne/T Electricity: 980 KWh/T Cooling water: 50 m3/T Water effluent: 50-190 m3/T H2O solids: 35-60 kg/T Metal salts to H2O: 1-20 kg/T Low recycled use (coating removal) Biodegradable with BOD* lechate and CH4 to air Clean incineration Wood product use: 0 Petroleum material: 3.2g Steam: 5 tonne/T Electricity: 120-180 KWh/T Cooling water: 154 m3/T Water effluent: 0.5-2 m3/T H2O solids: trace Metal salts to H2O: 20 kg/T High recycled use (resin re-use) Inert, non-biodegradable Clean incineration Hocking paper in Science (Feb. 1991):Paper vs Polystyrene, a Complex Choice Paper Cup Polystyrene Cup * Biological Oxygen Demand

5. DfE success ties to Quality processes DfE is a strategic decision DfE is cross-functional DfE is systemic, holistic, and synergistic DfE may be counter-intuitive DfE is more than ‘design’

6. What makes a product ‘green’? Lowell Center for Sustainable Production - Framework for Sustainable Products

7. DfE Definitions • “…product contains only those ingredients that pose the least concern [regarding human health and environmental effects] among chemicals in their class.” • “Ecodesign aims at reducing the environmental impact of products, including the energy consumption throughout their entire life cycle.”

8. DfE Definitions “The DfE program has three priorities: • Energy efficiency - reduce the energy needed to manufacture and use our products • Materials innovation - reduce the amount of materials used in our products and develop materials that have less environmental impact and more value at end-of-life • Design for recyclability - design equipment that is easier to upgrade and/or recycle”

9. From Take-Make-Waste….

10. …to Cradle-to-Cradle

11. Drivers: Legislation REACh RoHS TURA ToSCA EU Energy CA Appliance Efficiency MA “Stretch Codes” WEEE ELV Resource Conservation Toxics Energy EU Ecodesign Directive: all 3

12. Drivers: Labeling and Certification

13. Drivers: Consumer Preference

14. Total Quality Environmental Management • Consider non-compliance and adverse environmental impact to be defects • Existing TQM practices • = The Greener Mousetrap: • Environmentally compliant • Designed for the Environment • ISO Life cycle oriented • Total Quality Management • Focus on identifying defects in every step • Continuous improvement • = The Better Mousetrap: • Higher quality • More reliable • Better focused on customer need • Cheaper Making DfE Happen

15. Quality Costs Quality costs escalate as value is added to a product or service 0.003 Supplier Inspection Cost of finding and correcting a defective electronic component 0.03 Incoming Inspection Fabrication Inspection 0.30 $3 Sub-product Test P. Crosby & Associates, 1979 Final Product Test $30 $300 Field Service

16. Environmental Quality Costs Life Cycle Costs escalate at later stages of the Life Cycle Product concept Design Life Cycle Cost of a toxic material Manufacture Use Landfill, incineration, etc. Environmental cleanup “Most environmental costs are incurred on the first day of product development”

17. Environmental Quality Costs Life Cycle Cost of Mercury battery Product concept One ‘button battery’ per kg of soil renders cost of soil remediation virtually infinite Design Manufacture Use Landfill, incineration, etc. Environmental cleanup – landfill toxics remediation

18. Theoretical Environmental Quality Costs Life Cycle Cost of rechargeable alkaline and Lithium-ion batteries Product concept Design Manufacture Relatively expensive to purchase, these batteries last much longer, are less toxic, are rechargeable, and can be recycled easier. Use Landfill, incineration, etc. Environmental cleanup – landfill remediation

19. Theoretical Environmental Quality Costs Life Cycle Cost of windup flashlight Product concept Design Manufacture Use Self-powered windup devices minimize the problem of battery disposal Landfill, incineration, etc. Environmental cleanup – landfill remediation

20. Product Concept Inkjet vs laser Design Choice Low power logic family vs standard logic families Material Choice Plastic housing vs metal Energy Consumption ‘Always on’ power adaptor vs ‘Smart’ power adaptor Recyclability Improved Design for Disassembly Material Recovery Gold circuit board traces vs copper Packaging Recycled pulp inserts vs styrofoam Examples of DfE factors

21. Life-Cycle Analysis (LCA) • Consider products or product options which deliver equivalent function • Model chains of engineering unit processes, their resource/pollution flows • Sum resource/pollution flows over chain (inventory analysis – LCIA) • Determine damage potentials – impact analysis • Optimize environmental performance throughout the product’s entire life

22. Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) Typical Groupings Impact Categories (“Midpoints”) Endpoints Ecosystem Resources Fossil Fuel Depletion Mineral Depletion Land Use Water acidification / eutrophication Ecosystem Quality Eco-toxicity Climate Change Ozone Layer Depletion Carcinogenic Substances Human Health Organic Respiratory Effects Inorganic Respiratory Effects Ionizing Radiation

23. From previous unit process(es) Product or service To next unit process(es) Modeling chains of unit function – unit process • Emissions to the environment • To air • To water • Extractions from the environment • Fuel • Materials • Land, water, air, etc. • Could be from biosphere or technosphere

24. Releases to environment System boundary Extractions from environment Modeling chains of unit function – chains of units

25. Circuit board? Laser printer example – Life Cycle Inventory hierarchy Life cycle: laser printer Product assembly Electricity use Paper use Toner use Scenario – office waste Subassembly – electronic parts Subassembly – housing Subassembly – power supply Sheet metal milling / rolling Waste scenario - incineration Waste scenario - landfilling Sheet metal production Oxygen production Coke production Scrap collection Electricity use Electricity use

26. Actual Software Example Life Cycle Inventory hierarchy

27. Summing resource and emission flows, calculating impact results Impact Assessment results Inventory results (LCI)

28. Impact group results – comparing alternatives

29. Impact group results – comparing weighted alternatives

30. Issues with LCA • Relative importance of various midpoints & endpoints • E.g., which is more serious – Global Warming potential or carcinogenic emissions to water? • Difficulty of getting data • E.g., what’s the silver yield of Bolivian ore? • Inappropriate data and assumptions • E.g., sulfur content of Chinese vs US coal • Lies, damned lies, and statistics

31. Jointly considers financial and environmental costs Guides development investment decisions 0 Product option C Product option A Increasing eco-efficiency 0.5 LCA score Product option B 1 1 0.5 0 Cost burden Eco-efficiency

32. Thank you! Mark Myles Toxics Use Reduction Institute 600 Suffolk St., 5th Floor Wannalancit Mills Lowell, MA 01854 mark.myles@turi.org +1 978.934.3298