Week 6

Sustainable Design

• Reducing consumption of non-renewable resources

• Minimizing waste

• Create healthy, productive environments

Multiple sustainable design strategies

1. Extraction

2. Manufacturing and Production

3. Packing

4. Distribution

5. Use

6. Disposal

Product Lifecycle

• Chemical product that is made using sustainable design strategies

• Reviewing product's life cycle

Lifecycle of our chemical product

Raw Materials: Polystyrene with biodegradation additives, Stainless Steel 304 and Copper (PCB)

Stage 1: Extraction

1. Crude oil is extracted out of the ground or sea by fracking, which contains the materials for synthesizing polystyrene

2. Raw metal ores are extracted through mining

Stage 2: Manufacturing and Production

1. Benzene, Styrene, Ethylene is extracted out from the crude oil via Vacuum Distillation and cracking and would undergo Suspension Polymerisation to produce polystyrene.

2. Biodegradation additives are added to enhance the Polystyrene biodegradation process.

3. Polystyrene injection moulding to make the different parts of the casing for coffee/tea maker.

4. Raw metal ores undergo a process known as metallurgy, in which the raw metal ores will undergo conventional roasting method which removes the moisture from the ore. Next the metals will enter a reduction furnace to remove the oxides, leaving the refined metals of Chromium and Nickel.

5. Chromium and Nickel is then melted together with other added components such as Carbon to produce Stainless Steel 304.

6. Unrefined Stainless Steel 304 from used coffee/maker can be refined and reshaped to the different components of the coffee/tea maker

7. Stainless Steel 304 is melted and casted to the different components of the coffee/tea maker

8. Printed circuit board (PCB) fabrication for making the circuit board for the coffee/tea maker.

9. Assembly of the coffee/tea maker.

Stage 3: Packing

1. Finished assembly of the coffee/tea maker is packed inside boxes (made of paper).

2. Product wrap and cushion with polyethylene foam

Stage 4: Distribution

1. Product gets transported to dealers/shops through vehicle transportation to be sold to consumers.

2. Warehouses are used to temporarily store the coffee/tea maker before distributing.

Stage 5: Use

1. Consumers use the product to make coffee/tea.

Stage 6: Disposal

• Reuse

1. Parts of the product could be reused for other needs

2. Parts can be reused as replacement parts for the coffee/tea maker

• Recycle

1. Used components can be recycled and produce other products

• Disposal

1. Product end up in landfills or incinerators(exclude metals)

Cradle to Cradle

Reuse and recycle products to reduce overall waste generated through mostly biological means such as making your product into compost or other nutrients

Concepts

• Nutrients become nutrients again

• Use of renewable energies

• Celebrate diversity

Our group decided on the concepts of "Nutrients become nutrients again" and "Celebrate diversity"

Celebrate Diversity

• Stainless Steel 304 can be resent to be refined and reshaped into the different components of the coffee/tea maker.

Nutrients become nutrients again

• Polystyrene with biodegradation additives can be biodegrade back to nature as nutrients for organisms.

Reference

https://www.intcorecycling.com/Do-You-Know-Whether-Polyethylene-Foam-Could-be-Recycled.html#:~:text=Polyethylene%20foam%20is%20durable%20as,are%20100%25%20recyclable%20and%20durable.