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

1. Introduction

The environmental impacts of manufactured goods can be reduced if designers plan for sustainability throughout the whole product life cycle. This requires consideration of the implications of materials selection, sourcing, product architecture, manufacturing processes and part fixing methods employed, as well as product energy efficiency and consumables used. Strategies to address the post-consumer stage include remanufacture, parts' reuse, materials recovery and recycling or design for natural degradability. The goal of zero landfill can only be achieved if companies redesign their products to minimise life-cycle impacts particularly at the end-of-life stage (Holdway and Walker 2004, p. 7).

In the past, little consideration has been given to the wider areas of resource depletion, energy consumption, landfill pollution and toxicity. Therefore, design is, in part, responsible for the condition of the planet, which becomes ever more critical (Holdway and Walker 2004, p. 9). If materials with higher recycling potential and value are used within products, together with components that can be reused, there will be a greater incentive for producers to reprocess them (Rose et al. 2001, p. 192). Planning for reprocessing is an area of growing importance as reuse and disassembly are now a vital part of any design brief (Howarth 2004, p. 12). The four properties decisive in determining the efficiency with which a product can be disassembled and reprocessed are: ease of identification, accessibility, separation and handling of components and materials (Johansson 2008, p. 35). BS 8887-11 addresses these issues and also references BS EN ISO 114692 and BS EN ISO 1043.3

As BS 8887-1 is the initial part of a series, it is general in nature and applicable to a wide range of manufactured goods. The standard sets out the design requirements necessary to meet the challenges of product reprocessing.

This paper reports on the outcome of the first part of a collaborative research project between the British Standards Institute and Brunel University.

2. Technical product realisation

Technical product realisation (TPR) comprises a triumvirate of British Standards. BS 8887, BS 88884 and BS 8889 refer to manufacture, specification and verification, respectively. The standards within TPR are written and maintained by the BSI committee TDW/4. The members of the committee are representatives from both industry and academia. Dr Brian Griffiths is currently the Chairman of the TDW/4 panel dealing with the BS 8887 series, TDW/4/-/5, and it is through him that this research has arisen between the BSI and Brunel University, where he is a Reader in Manufacturing Engineering. None of the standards in the series should be taken in isolation, as together they support each other and there is some overlap in their content (Griffiths 2008, p. 22).

2.1 BS 8887

This is a new series of design standards being developed to assist designers in planning product end-of-life strategies during the early or ab initio stages of new product development. It is especially important that end-of-life planning is considered at the beginning of the design process. ‘The product design and development phase influences more than 80% of the economic cost connected with a product, as well as 80% of the environmental and social impacts of a product, incurred throughout its whole life-cycle’ (Charter and Tischner 2001, p. 120).

Approximately one half of BS 8887-1 is concerned with conventional design for manufacture and assembly requirements; however, it is the second half, regarding disassembly and end-of-life processes, that will be of particular interest to those concerned with sustainable design. In creating BS 8887-1, information about piece-part manufacture was updated from PD 6470.5 New material on design for assembly was included with reference to the work of Boothroyd et al. (1994). Perhaps, most importantly, advice on how to enhance designs for end-of-life processing was added. This first part will be followed by related standards tailored to specific needs (Griffiths 2008, p. 23).

The second part of the series, BS 8887-2,6 was officially published in April 2009, entitled ‘Terms and Definitions’. It clarifies the differences between words such as reuse, repurpose, repair, refurbish, remanufacture, recycle, etc. For the manufacturing and assembly stages, the terms are well accepted and tend to be non-contentious. This is not the case for disassembly and end-of-life as these are developing areas, and many of the terms are new (Griffiths 2008, p. 24).

A third part of the BS 8887 series is about to go into development. Its purpose will be to provide designers with a framework for selecting appropriate strategies for end-of-life planning to minimise environmental damage and maximise recoverable value. For example, heavy machinery may be well suited to remanufacture (e.g. Caterpillar Inc. 2009), whereas the plastic casings of post-consumer electronic products may be ideal for recycling, as demonstrated by the ‘Reee Chair’ (Pli Design 2009). In some instances, product or component disposal may be the optimal end-of-life route, in which case design for biodegradability could be the best option, as with certain types of packaging (e.g. Davis and Song 2006).

This new part of BS 8887 is likely to take the form of a series of decision trees and flow charts based upon a product's material composition and the availability of suitable reprocessing facilities. It will provide route maps through the disassembly and end-of-life parts of MADE, as designers often lack practical advice on design for the environment in real situations with complex products (Griffiths 2008, p. 24).

3. Research aims and objectives

BS 8887-1 has been available for nearly 4 years, and the author believes that it is important to examine its market acceptance to date, and seek opportunities for further dissemination. Negative data, suggesting lack of awareness or interest in the standard within particular relevant sectors, are also valuable for identification of opportunities for future growth. While there is a growing interest in sustainable design, the majority of designers only have a limited knowledge and understanding of environmental or social issues and alternative business models (Greenwood 2008, p. 28).

It is essential that the design and manufacturing industries are made aware of BS 8887-1 and learn to apply it to commercial projects. ‘There are shamefully few design professionals who engage with environmental and sustainable design issues. This is a significant gap, but it is also an opportunity for pioneers’ (Holdway and Walker 2004, p. 9). Additionally, there is evidence that environmentally friendly design does not necessarily increase production costs and can lead to reductions in development, assembly, packaging, service and disposal of up to 50% (Bullinger and Bopp 1998).

By looking for patterns within the sales data, the influence of external pressures to move towards more sustainable practices should be observable. Corporate environmental concern usually starts with ‘complying with regulations’ (Gehin et al. 2008, p. 569). It is also significant that increasingly companies see the creation of positive environmental aspects to their products as a way of improving their market position (Rose et al. 2001, p. 182).

The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive (2003) promotes reuse and recycling of consumer products with high targets of 75–85% (Howarth 2004, p. 12). The BS 8887-1 standard specifies the design requirements to be met for efficient reprocessing of post-consumer goods. It is possible that the WEEE legislation could have prompted some electronics producers to purchase the standard. If this is the case, then it should be reflected in the types of companies showing interest in the standard.

4. Hypotheses

Prior to commencement of this research, a number of hypotheses were proposed for investigation. These have been summarised below.

• The recent introduction of product-related environmental legislation will have stimulated sales of BS 8887-1.

• As BSI is the UK's National Standards Body (NSB), the distribution of BS 8887-1 will be strongest within its home country.

• Age and size should not be a major factor in determining the types of companies that invest in BS 8887-1 as they will all be influenced by legislation and market demand, with the possible exceptions of micro-enterprises.

• Design and manufacturing companies that have ISO 140017 environmental management system and ISO 90018 quality management system compliance accreditation are more likely to buy BS 8887-1, as they have shown commitment to both standards and the environment.

5. Method

BSI has supported this study by providing some data on BS 8887-1. The initial information contained sales data about the standard since its publication at the end of October 2006 and up until July 2008. It showed that 117 copies had been distributed. Of these, 114 had been sold and three given away. BSI also used 14 copies internally; these have been removed from all further analyses.

Upon receiving the data, the first study made was the distribution of sales over time. The orders were grouped according to the months in which they were sold. The number of sales occurring within each month was calculated and the results were plotted as a graph, as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1 Sales graph.

The second data-set from the BSI was an update that showed sales until March 2009. This listed a further four new entries; however, they were undated and so are not represented in Figure 1. A third list with contact details for organisations that had agreed to participate in the next phase of this research (see Section 10) showed two more orders for the purchase of the standard. New entries from these subsequent lists were included in the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code analysis. The time intervals and numbers of fresh orders suggest a continuation of the sales trend.

In addition to selling standards in hard copy, BSI offers a download service called British Standards Online (BSOL). At the time when this study commenced, data relating to the standards downloaded by subscribers were unavailable. The BSOL system has since been improved such that this is now logged. Data relating to BS 8887-1 downloaded from BSOL between August 2008 and August 2009 have been included here. These data have been merged with the information on hard copy sales. The four lists were combined and repeat orders and downloads were eliminated, thus leaving 192 unique entries.

5.1 Adding to the data-set

Having established a definitive list of BS 8887-1 customer organisations, additional information about each of them was added from a variety of sources so that patterns might be more easily identifiable. Sources used included individual company websites, Companies House (2009) and the FAME (2009) financial analysis database.

5.1.1 Standard Industrial Classification

The SIC code is a hierarchical system used to categorise the activities of organisations. It classifies by Section, Division, Group, Class and Subclass. Section is represented by a capital letter and Division by the first two digits of the code. An optional point mark separates these from digits representing Group and Class, respectively. A Subclass code may be appended, but this has not been used within the study.

5.1.2 Mapping BS 8887-1 distribution

The address of each customer's head office was added to the combined data so that geographical distribution could be mapped. For some entries, the BSI data provided the address to which the standard had been sent. These usually matched the registered office, but where differences occurred, the former address was used. These locations are plotted on the map shown in Figure 4.

5.1.3 Company age

The ages of companies were calculated from their year of incorporation. The results are plotted as a graph shown in Figure 5.

5.1.4 Determining company size

This study uses EU standard terms to identify the size of organisations based on the number of employees they have. A small enterprise is defined ‘as one with fewer than 50 employees (with micro-enterprises having fewer than 10 employees). A medium enterprise is defined as one with 50 or more employees, but fewer than 250, and a large enterprise as one having 250 or more employees’ (Office for National Statistics (ONS) 2008). Applying these thresholds enabled results to be evaluated against UK data from the ONS. Comparative pie charts are used to illustrate this in Figure 6.

5.1.5 ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 compliance

Evidence of ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certifications was sought for each company on the BS 8887-1 customer list. This was done by checking each company name against the UK Register of Quality Assessed Companies (QA Register) which is maintained by the Stationery Office (2009). The websites belonging to each company were also individually searched for references to ISO 9001 and ISO 14001, using the search within the site function of Google. The images within each site were also searched and checked for compliance accreditation logos. Companies that merely claimed to ‘operate in accordance with principles of’ ISO 9001 or ISO 14001, but which did not have certification, were recorded as negative.

The results from the QA Register, and the data from the corporate websites, were merged prior to calculating the percentages of ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certified companies among the BS 8887-1 customer firms. If either the QA Register or corporate website searches produced a positive result, then the company was recorded as compliant with the relevant standard. The results of the two searches largely served to confirm each other, although there were some differences. By merging the results, the combined totals were slightly higher than if just one method had been employed.

6. Limitations

For some organisations interested in BS 8887-1, especially in the non-commercial sectors, SIC codes could not be found from published sources. In these cases, a suitable code was selected based on the activities described on their websites. Many companies, particularly larger firms, have multiple SIC codes as they compete in various markets. For consistency, analysis has been limited to the primary SIC code for each.

Of the 192 unique orders and downloads included in the SIC code analysis, 123 were used to find the percentage with ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 accreditation. The same subset was used to determine the ages of companies interested in BS 8887-1 and their sizes. The focus for these studies was UK businesses. The excluded organisations comprised: 47 from education, three of which were non-UK; 10 other non-UK organisations; seven libraries; two government-run defence-related sites; two state-funded engineering research organisations; and one chamber of commerce. For the business size analysis, micro-enterprises were grouped with small firms, as the exact number of employees was often unavailable.

In gathering data to determine the percentage of ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certified companies, a number of factors will have affected the accuracy of the final figures. It is possible that there may be a time delay between changes in the status of company compliance certification, and updates being applied to websites. Additionally, the QA Register is dependent upon current information being forwarded by certificated organisations and accreditation bodies.

The date of incorporation was used to determine the age of companies. This is an imperfect measure as sometimes firms trade for a period of time prior to becoming registered. Mergers and acquisitions create further complications.

7. Results and analysis

The data collected throughout this research are presented here graphically with the intention of providing clarity, and to assist in the visualisation of emergent trends. SIC data colour coding has been kept consistent for all diagrams.

7.1 Sales

Initially, sales of BS 8887-1 were strong followed by a surge in orders in January 2007. New orders then settled to a steady rate of one or two per month. This pattern is shown in Figure 1.

The shape of the graph is typical of the sales pattern expected for a newly introduced standard. The release of new standards is publicised in BSI's ‘Update Standards’ and ‘Business Standards’ magazines. Several articles in the engineering trade journals have also been published about BS 8887-1 and the TPR triumvirate. The pattern of sales does not appear to show any correlation with the timings of product-related environmental legislation coming into force.

7.2 Management accreditation

Of the 123 UK commercial firms that ordered or downloaded BS 8887-1, 86% had ISO 9001 certification and 46% had ISO 14001 certification. These high levels suggest commitment to standards, quality and environmental responsibility among the companies interested in BS 8887-1.

These results may also be an indication of the relative importance of the standards within industry. Almost all of the ISO 14001 certified firms also had ISO 9001. Perhaps ISO 9001 is seen as essential while ISO 14001 is highly desirable.

7.3 SIC analysis of BS 8887-1 customers

7.3.1 General SIC analysis

The industry sectors to which organisations that have purchased BS 8887-1 belong are represented in Figure 2. The pie chart indicates a high uptake in Section-D ‘Manufacturing’ with 97 orders or nearly 51%. The bar of pie shows that Division-31 ‘Manufacture of electrical machinery’ is the largest subset of manufacturing with 19 orders. Division-32 ‘Manufacture of radio, television and communication equipment’ has a further four firms engaged in similar activities. Therefore, at least 23 of the 192 orders, or nearly 12%, are from companies that manufacture electrical goods. This figure excludes design consultancies, some of which assist in the development of these types of products.

Figure 2 SIC Section and Division of manufacturing. (Available in colour online).

The high uptake of BS 8887-1 by electronics companies may have been motivated by the increasingly stringent legislative requirements imposed on this industry by both the European Community and the UK Government. Within the past 5 years, new legislation directed at reducing the impacts of electronic products include: the Eco-design Requirements for Energy-Using Products Directive (2005), the WEEE Directive and the Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations (2005b), all of which are referenced from within BS 8887-1.

General engineering companies were well represented with 17 from Division-29 ‘Manufacture of Machinery & Equipment Not Elsewhere Classified’. A further 15 firms concerned with similar business Division-28 ‘Manufacture of Fabricated Metal Products, Except Machinery & Equipment’ brings the number of engineering production companies to at least 32 out of 192 or 17%. By considering the data in these combinations, it can be seen that there are more general engineering than electrical manufacturers ordering BS 8887-1. The standard may be of interest to these companies because of the detailed design requirements it lays out for efficient manufacture and assembly, as well as end-of-life value recovery processes.

Six orders were from businesses operating in Division-25 ‘Manufacture of Rubber and Plastic Products’. This may indicate a realisation of the value of these materials, and of the need to develop product designs that enable efficient post-consumer recovery and recycling.

The data show only four companies from Division-34 ‘Manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers’. This is disappointing given the high-potential end-of-life environmental impact of cars and trucks, etc. (e.g. Jones 2003), and especially in light of the End-of-Life Vehicles (Producer Responsibility) Regulations (2005a). Of the companies within this division, only two were manufacturers of complete vehicles and only one of those was a high-volume producer. It is possible that economic factors have had an impact on the automotive industry's demand for British Standards. ‘Car-making is moving eastwards, to Eastern Europe and Asia, and its support industries are going too’ (Hennock 2005). Interestingly, the high-volume car maker was from one of the rapidly developing Asian economies.

Section-M ‘Education’ is the second largest segment of the pie chart in Figure 2 with 47 institutions represented. These include schools and colleges but mainly universities, as shown in Figure 3. This is a very positive finding as: ‘what is really needed is an ethos within educational establishments that supports and promotes sustainability in all activities and in all courses at every level’ (Rahimifard and Clegg 2008, p. 2). The education provided by these institutions will influence designers for the duration of their careers. Sustainable design knowledge will thus be taken to the companies they start, or for whom they work.

Figure 3 SIC Section, Division and Group.

The majority of education-related entries were from BSOL. Several of the universities downloaded the standard between 5 and 12 times. These multiple downloads were reduced to single entries for this analysis; however, they do suggest high levels of interest within certain institutions. It is likely that design and engineering lecturers have been referencing the standard during their teaching and that their students have then taken the initiative to download it for use in their project work. Education is a particularly important sector that should be further encouraged to promote environmentally sensitive design and to use BS 8887-1 for teaching purposes.

The remaining smaller portions of the pie chart in Figure 2 are discussed in the following section along with SIC Division and Group.

7.3.2 Specific SIC analysis

Section-K ‘Real estate, renting and business activities’ is the third largest segment of the pie chart in Figure 2. Only a few of the firms appearing under this classification were concerned with property as their principal activity. Of the 26 orders in this Section, 17 actually fell into Division-74 ‘Other business activities’ and seven of the remaining nine were Division-73 ‘Research and development’ organisations. Division-74 ‘Other business activities’ subdivides into 13 entries in Group-74.8 ‘Miscellaneous business activities’, and three in Group-74.2 ‘Architectural and engineering activities and related technical consultancy’. This additional detail is not shown in Figure 2, but is illustrated by the labelled segments of multi-level doughnut diagram shown in Figure 3.

Public libraries with a BSOL subscription afford access to standards for local small businesses and other interested parties. The data show the standard being downloaded at seven different UK libraries. These are represented in Section-O ‘Other Community, Social and Personal Service Activities’. Their full SIC code would be 92.51 ‘Library and archives activities’ (SIC Class has not been shown in Figure 3 to avoid over-complication).

Division-33 ‘Manufacture of medical, precision & optical instruments, watches & clocks’ shows 15 orders. Over half of these were companies in the medical sector. This type of business has a tradition of being highly innovative. Perhaps this is evidence of a proactive approach in developing sustainable design solutions.

The rings of the doughnut diagram in Figure 3, from the inside to the outside, represent SIC Section, Division and Group, respectively. These are indicated by the letters on the inner ring and progressively longer codes on the outer rings. The diagram is a graphical representation of the parts of the SIC code system covering the principal activities of BS 8887-1 customers and their relative proportion of the total orders. Around the outside of the chart, SIC codes with three or more occurrences have been labelled with their descriptions. The definitions of all the codes can be found in the freely available National Statistics Document: ‘UK Standard Industrial Classification of Economic Activities 2003’ (ONS 2003).

Design for disassembly and maintenance are especially important in the defence industry as non-consumable military equipment often has an exceptionally long service life. At least six of the commercial firms that ordered BS 8887-1 are involved in the development and manufacture of defence products. As an example, from an engineering perspective, battle tanks have much in common with heavy earth moving equipment. They may be ideal candidates for remanufacture and design for upgradeability. This approach could potentially be applied to many other pieces of military hardware. Design for end-of-life reprocessing is of critical importance with respect to weapons of mass destruction. It should never be necessary to use these systems, so they will inevitably need to be disassembled and reprocessed once their service life is over.

7.4 Geographical distribution

The approximate locations of local BS 8887-1 customers are shown on the map of the British Isles in Figure 4. The colours of the markers are consistent with all of the diagrams relating to SIC code Section, and identify the type of organisation at each site. Perhaps, unsurprisingly, the markers are clustered around the UK's major industrial centres of London, Birmingham and Manchester. The map also indicates considerable manufacturing activity along the south coast particularly between Southampton and Brighton.

Figure 4 Geographical distribution within the British Isles. (Available in colour online).

Of the 192 organisations in the study, 13 are based outside the UK. Orders for BS 8887-1 have originated from: France, Hong Kong, Kuwait, Malta, Norway, Oman, Republic of Ireland, Slovenia, South Korea and the USA. The influence of British Standards clearly reaches an international audience. Additionally, two non-UK standard bodies downloaded BS 8887-1. Perhaps they will be inspired to develop their own equivalent standard. The corporate international orders were from manufactures of aircraft parts, auto-electrical parts, pharmaceuticals, vehicles and industrial electrical equipment.

The influence of the BS 8887-1 may be felt worldwide as a result of international trade. By incorporating sustainable design principles into product specifications, some environmental benefits should result even in a global manufacturing context. For instance, if an item was designed in the UK but manufactured in Malaysia, the overseas producer would be expected to meet the specification regardless of existing practice. So, if ‘100% recycled or part recycled material’ was stipulated for a particular component, or that ‘secondary finishing such as painting, coating or plating should not be used’, then these specifications would have to be met, or at least negotiated with the client.

7.5 Age of BS 8887-1 customer firms

The number of UK businesses, in each of the given age ranges, that have ordered BS 8887-1 is presented in Figure 5. The graph resembles a normal distribution or bell curve. The majority of the companies that bought BS 8887-1 fall into the 21–50-year age range.

Figure 5 Age distribution graph.

A considerable number of younger companies are represented in the 6–10- and 11–20-year ranges. If these firms successfully develop and implement sustainable design strategies and business models, they should have many years of prosperous trading ahead, and remain attractive to increasingly environmentally aware consumers.

7.6 Size of BS 8887-1 customer firms

Most of the orders for BS 8887-1, from the commercial sector, originated from medium or large firms. These comprise 45 and 42% of the total, respectively, with 13% from small and micro-enterprises. The pie chart in Figure 6(a) graphically represents these percentages so that they can be compared with UK national data (ONS 2000) shown in Figure 6(b) and (c).

Figure 6 (a) BS 8887-1 customer business sizes. (b) All UK business sizes (data source: ONS 2000). (c) All UK business turnover data (data source: ONS 2000).

The majority of UK businesses are either micro 83.5%, or small 13.6% (ONS 2000), as shown in Figure 6(b). Micro-businesses are considered a subset of small businesses. This brings the total proportion of UK companies with fewer than 50 employees to 97.1%. Medium-sized businesses represent 2.2% of the UK total while only 0.6% of firms qualify as large with 250+ employees. When Figure 6(a) is compared with Figure 6(b), it appears that the percentage of companies of each size within the BS 8887-1 customer base has no apparent relationship with the national data. There is no consistent percentage of businesses, within each size range, buying BS 8887-1.

The percentage of turnover from UK businesses of each size is represented in Figure 6(c). This shows that large companies account for 52.8% (ONS 2000). Therefore, more than half of all UK commercial trade is generated by 0.6% of firms that qualify as large. The remaining national business turnover is divided approximately evenly between micro-, small- and medium-sized firms. If Figure 6(b) and (c) are considered together, the BS 8887-1 data in Figure 6(a) look like a more reasonable average, although small firms are arguably still under-represented.

7.7 Age, size and classification of BS 8887-1 customer organisations

The data regarding company size, age and activity by SIC code Section have been combined in Figure 7. It can be seen that medium-sized companies, aged 21–50 years, in the manufacturing sector, account for the highest frequency of orders. The chart also shows that the larger companies tend to be older. Several of the large young companies were formed from precursor organisations such as conglomerates or privatised national organisations.

Figure 7 Age, size and classification. (Available in colour online).

8. Conclusions

Based on the evidence of this study, and the frequency of occurrence of specific attributes, it can be said that the majority of BS 8887-1 customers are:

• commercial businesses;

• based in England;

• aged between 21 and 50 years old;

• medium or large enterprises;

• engineering companies that manufacture products and equipment, especially electrical, electronic and mechanical goods; and

• ISO 9001 certified.

While commercial businesses account for the bulk of orders, educational institutions showed considerable interest. This is perhaps the most positive finding, suggesting that sustainable environmentally sensitive design will become the norm rather than the exception, as these new graduates enter the workplace.

International distribution of BS 8887-1 was good, especially via online download. The BSI is the UK's NSB and therefore has its greatest influence within its home country.

The age distribution of the BS 8887-1 commercial customer organisations approximately follows a normal distribution pattern. This suggests that firms of all ages are investing in design for sustainability.

Having compared the sizes of BS 8887-1 customer firms with national averages, it appears that small- and micro-enterprises are under-represented. This is true for both the number of businesses nationally within these size categories, and the percentage of UK turnover that they represent.

Customers of BS 8887-1 show high commitment to the value of standards with exceptional levels of ISO 9001 certification, and high rates for ISO 14001 certification.

Very few motor vehicle manufacturers have bought BS 8887-1 and producers of packaging are absent from the sales data. The standard is relevant to both of these industries, especially the automotive business, given the complexity of assemblies, variety of materials used and the high potential for recycling, repair, reconditioning and remanufacturing.

The recent introduction of multiple pieces of environmental legislation relating to electrical and electronic product manufacture may have stimulated orders for BS 8887-1 as a high proportion of such businesses were evident within the customer data.

9. Recommendations

The BS 8887 series should become the basis of a similar ISO standard. It has proved popular in its home country and its principles should now be communicated internationally through ISO. This should be actively pursued to support industry in an age of global manufacturing. The standard should be further promoted to automotive and packaging producers as uptake in these sectors has been disappointing, despite the standard's relevance to them.

It is important that students of design and engineering have access to, and training in, BS 8887-1 and sustainable design, at their educational institutions. They will influence the sustainability and environmental impacts of tomorrow's products. A BSOL subscription has already proven to be a popular way of achieving this.

UK manufacturing companies with ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certifications have shown considerable interest in BS 8887-1. It is therefore likely that other similar firms would be a receptive audience for the standard. However, design for sustainability, and the value of the standard, needs to be promoted more generally to firms that have not yet adopted environmentally sensitive design strategies.

10. Further work

The next stage of this research is to visit companies that have purchased BS 8887-1 and discuss the implementation of its requirements in commercial projects. The interview series will explore the benefits of applying the standard as well as any difficulties experienced by the designers and engineers that use it. Thus, the study will provide an opportunity to identify and address any issues arising.

Contact has already been made with several electrical and electronics manufacturers for the purposes of a pilot study, the results of which should be ready for publication later in the year. This pilot study will be followed by a much broader study involving all types of companies from within the customer base.

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.