1. Toxics Use Reduction Institute Design for Environment (DfE) Making products green - really Toxics Use Reduction Institute 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 21 st Century Plastic? (polystyrene) OR Paper?

4. Hocking paper in Science (Feb. 1991): Paper vs Polystyrene, a Complex Choice Wood product use: 33g Petroleum material: 4.1g Steam: 9-12 tonne/T Electricity: 980 KWh/T Cooling water: 50 m 3 /T Water effluent: 50-190 m 3 /T H 2 O solids: 35-60 kg/T Metal salts to H 2 O: 1-20 kg/T Low recycled use (coating removal) Biodegradable with BOD* lechate and CH 4 to air Clean incineration Wood product use: 0 Petroleum material: 3.2g Steam: 5 tonne/T Electricity: 120-180 KWh/T Cooling water: 154 m 3 /T Water effluent: 0.5-2 m 3 /T H 2 O solids: trace Metal salts to H 2 O: 20 kg/T High recycled use (resin re-use) Inert, non-biodegradable Clean incineration Paper Cup Polystyrene Cup * Biological Oxygen Demand

5. DfE is more than ‘design’ 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

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” Energy Toxics Resource Conservation WEEE ELV EU Ecodesign Directive: all 3

12. Drivers: Labeling and Certification

13. Drivers: Consumer Preference

14. Making DfE Happen 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 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

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

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

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

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

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

20. Examples of DfE factors Low power logic family vs standard logic families Design Choice Recycled pulp inserts vs styrofoamPackaging Gold circuit board traces vs copperMaterial Recovery Improved Design for DisassemblyRecyclability ‘Always on’ power adaptor vs ‘Smart’ power adaptor Energy Consumption Plastic housing vs metalMaterial Choice Inkjet vs laserProduct Concept

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

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

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

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

26. Actual Software Example Life Cycle Inventory hierarchy

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

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

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