Design standards for product end-of-life processing

Abstract

In 2006, the British Standards Institute (BSI) published BS 8887-1 ‘Design for Manufacture, Assembly, Disassembly and End-of-life processing’ (MADE) subtitled ‘General Concepts, Processes and Requirements’. This was the first British Standard to address design for efficient post-consumer product reprocessing. By designing and planning for remanufacture, much of the embodied energy and production investment can be retrieved after the consumer no longer requires the original item. Therefore, end-of-life products become an asset rather than a liability. Design for disassembly facilitates efficient deconstruction and thus enables materials to be recycled with minimal loss of purity, thus maximising their value. The analysis presented here is based on the Standard Industrial Classification codes of companies and organisations that have purchased BS 8887-1. These data are considered in relation to the influence of environmental legislation. Company age, size and location, as well as ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certifications, are discussed. This paper concludes by suggesting suitable directions for the continued distribution and development of this environmentally, economically and socially beneficial standard.

Keywords:

• sustainable design
• British Standards
• Standard Industrial Classification
• environmental legislation

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank all those who have contributed to this research: Prof. David Harrison, Dr Brian Griffiths and Dr Busayawan Lam for their guidance and support; Sarah Kelly, Committee Manager at BSI, and Dan Palmer, Head of Market Development at BSI, who kindly proof read and edited the text; also my sincere thanks to Ben Walsh, Technical Consultant, Centre for Remanufacturing and Reuse, for his helpful suggestions. Finally, the author would like to thank the Ormsby Trust for funding my work within the Cleaner Electronics Research Group at Brunel University.

Notes

^1. BS 8887-1:2006, Design for Manufacture, Assembly, Disassembly and End-of-Life Processing (MADE) – Part 1: General Concepts, Process and Requirements.

^2. BS EN ISO 11469, Generic Identification and Marking of Plastics Products.

^3. BS EN ISO 1043 (all parts), Plastics – Symbols and Abbreviated Terms.

^4. BS 8888:2008, Technical Product Specification – Specification.

^5. PD 6470:1975, The Management of Design for Economic Production.

^6. BS 8887-2:2009, Design for Manufacture, Assembly, Disassembly and End-of-Life Processing (MADE) – Part 2: Terms and Definitions.

^7. BS EN ISO 14001:2004, Environmental Management Systems – Requirements with Guidance for Use.

^8. BS EN ISO 9001:2008, Quality Management Systems – Requirements.