Product Re-Design Towards Sustainability: a Case Study of a Mass-Production Device

Abstract

Sustainability issues are nowadays embedded in society and organizations cannot avoid tackling them. Product design represents the phase in which 80% of the overall emissions are determined, thus the one on which changes should be realized. In some industrial sectors the environmental impact has never been accounted systematically during the conceptualization phase. The resulting products are consequently characterized by poor environmental performances, that have a deep negative effect if realized on a mass production scale. A sustainable re-design and process innovation approach is therefore required. This is the objective of this research, that uses Rold Washing Machine Doorlock as a case study example. After the realization of a cradle-to-gate Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of the component under exam, design and process modifications are identified. The assessment is not limited to the proposal of environmentally improved versions of the product. A barrier towards sustainability adoption is represented by the common perception of its unaffordability. It is important for the identified solutions leading to improved ecological performances, but they should be sustainable for the company also in financial terms. At this purpose, for each proposed change, a technical assessment of the operational steps required is performed, together with an economic analysis. The resulting re-engineered product passes all the desired conditions, and the methodology applied can be extended to every other sector facing the same issue.