Recycling and Ecodesign Strategies

After its glory days, does your product become a landfill monster? Sadly, most of them do. It’s a HUGE waste and a burden on our planet. ️ But there's a better way → Design for Disassembly (DfD)! These are products designed to be easily broken down and have parts reused in new creations! DfD isn't just a feel-good concept––it's a big leap for sustainability! Here's why: ✂️ Cuts Costs: Faster disassembly = faster reassembly on the production line. ❤️ Happy Customers: Easy repairs, extended lifespans, and upgrade options lead to more loyal fans 🌎 Saves the Planet: By using fewer resources, these products are inherently more environmentally friendly. ♻️ Second Life for Parts: New life to old components in different markets. But how do you implement designing for disassembly? → Know your end-of-life (EOL) destinations. Think about where will each component go when the product reaches its end of life. → Design for the long-term. Is it a single-use disposable item, or are you aiming for a product that can be repaired and upgraded over time? → Planning your product's entire lifecycle from the get-go: product architecture, component design, type of fasteners used, and even the materials themselves. → Even disassembly is an economic equation. Consider the cost of labor for disassembly, disposal of any waste generated during the process, and potential revenue from selling EOL components. Tips for designing for disassembly: → Use high-quality components: Durable parts minimize collateral damage during repair. → Standardize components: Opt for readily available components to make replacements a breeze for both you and your customers! → Offer repair documentation: Share repair guides and manuals publicly to help your users extend the life of your product themselves! → Consider including repair tools: This shows your commitment to user empowerment and product longevity. → Think about the incentive to repair: Motivate users to replace a part, because the easiest thing to do is often to just throw it away ☂️ A great example is the @Ginkgo umbrella, which is 100% recyclable! ✅ Made from 20 pieces, instead of the traditional 120+ piece umbrella designs. ✅ Designed with no screws or pivots necessary for assembly–– reducing the number of parts and materials needed. ✅ Can be put apart quickly and easily, and every single element can be recycled or repurposed. Fairphone and Framework are other great modular electronics that follow Design for disassembly 🌍 Designing for disassembly is about creating products that are good for business, good for your customers, and good for the planet. What are products that you’ve seen that are have been designed for disassembly? #climatesolutions #sustainability #circulareconomy

Implementing Ecodesign practices, such as using recycled materials, optimizing resources, reducing energy consumption, and enhancing durability, often faces physical and technological limits. Dematerialization can help, but the market isn't always ready for such changes, especially in the consumer sector. A key opportunity to reduce carbon footprints lies in transitioning to low-carbon electricity in the supply chain. Mapping suppliers to identify energy hotspots and engaging them to switch to low-carbon electricity requires significant effort from sourcing teams but yields substantial environmental benefits. At Microsoft, combining Ecodesign with responsible sourcing, including low-carbon electricity requirements, is vital to decarbonizing our supply chain and meeting our 2030 commitment. I strongly believe that more companies implementing such requirements contribute to accelerating the transition to renewable energy in sourcing countries by creating a clear market demand for alternative energy sources. We shared more information about this strategy into our 2024 environmental sustainability report: https://lnkd.in/e9tYcAGu #Sustainability #Ecodesign #CarbonReduction #ResponsibleSourcing #Microsoft #Decarbonization #SupplyChain

♻️ New Preprint Alert! ♻️ As global plastic waste levels continue to rise, the need for innovative chemical recycling strategies grows more urgent. In our latest study, we explore how catalytic pyrolysis can convert mixed plastic waste into valuable products, supporting the shift toward a circular economy. 🔬 We focus on a realistic feedstock—a mixture of polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET)—commonly found in multilayer packaging, a notoriously difficult-to-recycle waste stream. 📌 Key contributions: Investigated catalyst:feedstock ratio, polymer composition, and heating rate effects using TGA. Developed a kinetic modeling framework to predict degradation behavior under varying conditions. Evaluated catalyst deactivation through shifts in thermal profiles and quantified acidity loss using pyridine and collidine adsorption. To our best knowledge, we provided the first kinetic and deactivation study on co-pyrolysis of PP and PET—a major step forward in understanding mixed plastic waste behavior during catalytic recycling. 📉 Our findings show that PET’s high coking tendency significantly accelerates catalyst deactivation, underscoring the need for tailored strategies in mixed waste pyrolysis. 🔗 Read the full preprint here: https://lnkd.in/eBcU_6Az We hope this work sparks discussion and collaboration in the field of sustainable plastic recycling and catalytic process engineering. #Catalysis #PlasticsRecycling #CircularEconomy #ChemicalEngineering #Kinetics #HZSM5 #Pyrolysis #Sustainability #PlasticWaste