Gap's Denim Recycling

The atmosphere at last night’s Food for Thought was brimming with sustainability spirit!

Seated next to a host of experienced and really interesting people at the ‘waste’ table, I particularly enjoyed the discussion about the role of sustainable design in truly achieving zero waste ambitions. Most consumers perceive sustainable products as ‘luxury’ and therefore a more expensive choice, but is this really true? And if so, how do we make sustainable and affordable the new normal?

One diner commented that up to 80% of the environmental impact of a product is pre-determined by design, and there is a real need to educate designers on their role in translating this into their products. If designers were more aware of how to take their products apart, they could increase their durability, and make materials easier to recover at the end of the product life.

The challenges of product design are numerous:

• Designing in redundancy – reduced product durability means that customers keep coming back for more
• Materials Selection - Designers select materials for products based on aesthetics and tensile strength, not sustainability impacts.
• The market for spare parts is scarce - Products aren’t built with modularity in mind – so users are reluctant to take them apart, and if they do, the parts are often too expensive or difficult to get hold of. Consumers find it cheaper/easier to replace products than repair existing ones.

Companies like Marks & Spencer and Apple are taking steps to recover their valuable resources. M&S has partnered with Oxfam to recover used clothes in exchange for gift certificates, and similarly Apple’s Recycling scheme offers consumers gift cards for any electrical items they send in.

Designers hold the responsibility for translating durability and sustainability into practical and aspirational characteristics for consumers. Sustainable designs must still engage consumers, and this calls for stealth. They are potentially better quality products, but consumers don’t buy vintage clothes for their sustainability benefits!

But sustainable products, and designing out waste are only part of the equation. There still is a proportion of waste we have to deal with – what do we do with the rest?

We also have a lot to learn from other countries and cultures. Waste still has a stigma in the UK, but others see it only as a raw material – lots of opportunity rather than a nuisance! Waste management companies are wising up to the opportunities for closing the loop, supported by models such as the Ellen MacArthur Circular Economy. Companies like van Gansewinkel Groep also produce products from their waste streams.

Re-use networks like Freecycle and eBay have proven to be effective methods of redirecting ‘waste’ from landfill, but further work is needed to build the scale and efficiency of these networks for different sectors. Other examples include the NHS Reuse network, London reuse network, M&S and Oxfam Clothes Exchange, and Ikea’s Furniture Re-use Network.

Organisations are starting to see the value and opportunity in recycling their products, and providing incentives for consumers to recycle their products. But we’re not yet on a cusp of a waste industry revolution. What do we need to tip the scale – I’d be interested in your thoughts on this.