Abstract
We present the complexities in terms of designing automotive exterior seating materials (seat coverings and interior linings) at Sage Automotive Interiors (UK), which is a division of a global international automotive textile supplier with headquarters in the US. Sustainability and innovation are emphasized in documents communicating the company’s vision. Using a case study approach, we consider the current design, development and manufacture process and examine it for the potential for feedback loops, identify potential leverage points to effect change and how the process could divert wastes from disposal. We will highlight where sustainable decisions can be incorporated and the difficulties in achieving true sustainability. We argue that a systems approach is needed from conception to final product to ensure economic recycling of textiles and fibres used in automotive seating. Without which, the reality is at best incineration for energy and/or landfill, thus losing important, finite resources forever from a diminishing resource pool of raw materials.
Highlights
Sustainability in the automotive industry The European Union's end-of-life vehicles (ELV) directive stipulates that, by 2015, 95% of new vehicles need to be recyclable (EURAPA 2010) and that ‘vehicle manufacturers and material and equipment manufacturers must: (a) endeavour to reduce the use of hazardous substances when designing vehicles, (b) design and produce vehicles which facilitate the dismantling, reuse, recovery and recycling of end-of-life vehicles, (c) increase the use of recycled materials in vehicle manufacture and (d) ensure that components of vehicles placed on the market after 1 July 2003 do not contain mercury, hexavalent chromium, cadmium or lead, except in the applications listed in Annex II of the Directive (Normand 2008)
Sage Automotive Interiors (Sage AI) business is headquartered in the US, and solely in the automotive sector with bases in Poland, Japan, India, South America and China
The Sage AI business is entirely related to the automotive industry
Summary
Systems thinking Systems may be defined as a set of independent but interlinked phenomena; identifying and using beneficial relationships and linkages between different parts of a system is key to optimizing the whole (Charnley et al 2011; Mingers and White 2010). Meadows (1997) identified nine places of intervention to influence and change systems: (9) numbers - subsidies, taxes and standards, (8) material stocks and flows - substituting with more sustainable material, (7) regulating negative feedback loops - control undesirable factors by legislating to minimize harmful materials or processes, e.g. REACH, (6) driving positive feedback loops - encourage desirable factors through promotion and aid for sustainable practices, (5) information flows - working towards transparency in the supply chain, (4) rules of the system - develop existing or new practices and policies beneficial to all stakeholders, (3) the power of self-organization - internal intervention akin to organizational or self-learning, (2) the goals of the system - profit to survive and compete, but incorporate social and environmental concerns, and (1) the mindset or paradigm out of which the system arises - the accepted status quo, influencing this can bring about the biggest changes. Outputs and feedback mechanisms; for this paper, we examine the design process for automotive textiles and the system within which it operates in to outline the implications for environmental product design. Manufacturers are requesting textiles that disassemble and are recyclable; suppliers are being requested to recall their products after use to recycle them (Normand 2008), potentially forcing readjusting their operations to support this new additional element to their business.
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