Design for the Environment

1. Design for the Environment Felicia Kaminsky ESM 595F 2 November 2000

2. Outline • History and Definitions • EPA Cooperative Industry Projects • Printing • Garment Care • Corporate Environmental Policy • Xerox • Lucent • Conclusions & Discussion

3. Defining “DfE” • Concept pioneered by industry • US EPA Program • Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics • Over the past decade – created from several voluntary initiatives • Safer chemicals • Comparative risk analysis • Alternative technology • Voluntary, partnership program that works directly with industries and other partners to integrate health and environmental considerations in business decisions DfE

4. Goals • New approaches to risk reduction through pollution prevention • Balancing business needs and environmental concerns • Encourages front-end innovations through the redesign of formulations and manufacturing and disposal processes DFE

5. Sustainable Development EnterpriseIntegration Design for the Environment Pollution Prevention Integrated Product Development Environmental Stewardship Total QualityManagement DFE

6. Scope of DfE • Occupational health and safety • Consumer health and safety • Ecological integrity and resource protection • Pollution prevention and toxic use reduction • Transportability (safety and energy use) • Waste reduction and minimization • Disassembly and disposability • Recycle-able and remanufacture-able DFE

7. Cooperative Industry Projects • Premise: companies do not want to pollute, but often lack information • Information needed • Environmental impacts and consequences • Trade one product or process for another • Aim to provide current information needed to practice DfE

8. EPA DfE Cooperative Industry Projects

9. Entire industry sector Industry leaders Trade associations Printing Printed Wiring Board Computer Display Garment and Textile Care Industrial/Institutional Cleaning Formulations Auto Refinishing Adhesives in Foam Furniture and Sleep Products Supplier Initiative EPA DfE Partnerships DfE

10. Printing Projects • 1992 Printing Industries of America approached DfE • Screen printing • Evaluated 18 screen reclamation technologies • Lithography • Assessed 40 blanket wash formulations • Flexography • Comparing solvent, water, and ultraviolet ink technologies printing

11. Flexography Project • Printing from a raised image on a printing plate made from rubber or photopolymers • Printing on paper, corrugated paperboard, or plastic consumer packages and labels • Inks – highly fluid and quick drying • Contain solvents or water • Selection = performance requirements

12. Traditionally solvents from VOCs Regulated air pollutants Alternatives to conventional ink formulations Waterborne UV-cured Hazardous materials Disposal DfE seeks to provide info: Technical and environmental advantages and disadvantages Implementation Studies – research and applied Outreach Flexography Project, continued

13. Garment and Textile Care Program • Following a 1992 roundtable on drycleaning, industry leaders paired with DfE • Technical studies • Cleaner Technologies Substitutes Assessment (CTSA) • Implementation • Demonstration shops; Training • Outreach

14. DfE as Corporate Environmental Policy

15. DfE Guidelines • Design for: • recovery and reuse • disassembly • waste minimization • energy conservation • material conservation • chronic risk reduction • accident prevention

16. Interrelationships

17. Driving Forces Customer Satisfaction International Standards Regulatory Constraints Design for Environment Competitive Pressures Product Stewardship Enterprise Integration Risk Management Sustainable Development

18. DfE at Xerox • Waste-free products and factories • Minimize waste to landfill and releases to the environment at every step of a product life cycle • 1993 – began training design engineers in DFE principles • Objective to incorporate into new and existing products • Copy cartridges  new copiers, printers, and multifunction products Xerox

19. Develop and environmental plan for each product Environmental impacts Product life cycle costs Limit production materials Recyclable Recycled thermoplastics and metals Recycling symbols Implementation Xerox

20. Design for Reuse • 1995 – Mark engineering drawings with remanufacturing codes • Snap-together designs • Facilitate assembly and disassembly processes • Copy cartridges • Asset Recovery Center • One million parts in 1993 Xerox

21. Decrease waste 90% Air emissions -90% Water discharges -90% Post-consumer +25% Energy efficiency +10% Recycled >75% Air emissions -75%  Use of recycled materials Goals (1998); Results (1994) Xerox

22. DfE at Lucent • Part of Corporate Environmental Strategy • “Committed to ‘design for the environment’” • Established cross-functional DfE team • Product Lifecycle Team • Integrated into product realization process • Aims to develop and apply DfE criteria for all operating units by 2000 Lucent

23. Equipment reuse and refurbishment Repair and refurbishment of business telephones Battery-return program Packaging Material Reclamation Center Lucent Program Highlights

24. Conclusions & Discussion • Public awareness – is this necessary? • Fully integrated to environmental management practices? • What about small companies?

25. Additional Information • EPA DfE Homepage <www.epa.gov/opptintr/dfe/index.html> • Design for Environment: Creating Eco-Efficient Products and Processes, Joseph Fiksel, editor