*3 Lewis, Hellen and Gertsakis, John with Grant, Tim; Morreli, Nicola; Sweatman, Andrew; DESIGN + ENVIRONMENT: A global guide to designing greener goods; Electronic and Electrical Products and their impact on the Environment; Greenleaf Publishing Ltd, 2001 (Pg. 164—177)
ECO
Recycling of materials such as metals has been an established operation for a period of time. However, as the use of plastics becomes more popular in EEPs, there is a growing interest in how best to recycle these materials. Remanufacturing is the restoration of used products and components to a condition that has performance characteristics similar to those of new products. It results in product life extension and promotes the re-use of components and materials. Remanufacturing is widely used for commercial products such as photocopiers, but is rarely used for domestic electrical and electronic products. This is due to the decentralized and unpredictable market and supply for used goods, the rapid change in technology associated with some products; high transport costs; and customer prejudice against rebuilt products. Due to the minimal effect of styling, remanufacturing of domestic products is mostly concentrated in the area of power tools, vacuum cleaners, garden and leisure equipment.*3 People are spending 90% of their time indoors. New illness such as sick building syndrome is being blamed for significant losses in employer health and productivity. Many companies are working to reduce the components in furniture that emit toxins, odours, and suspected carcinogens. Serious health hazards are associated with the application of solvents, dyes, paints, and finishes that contain chemicals such as formaldehyde and VOCs. Furniture design eco-issues can be divided into two areas. The first area is product-specific and relates to the ecodesign objectives. They need to be addressed wherever possible, and are desirable in the design of the product itself. The second critical area is system-wide. It concerns the development and implementation of corporate strategies and services that can exploit most of the product ecodesign features that can be found in the product. Such strategies might include the development and implementation of the company’s environmental policy and a product stewardship approach that may incorporate product take-back and leasing services. Both areas reflect an explicit life cycle or cradle-to-grave approach and aim to minimize the environmental impacts, from materials selection and production through to distribution, use, re-use, recycling, and ultimate disposal.
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