Week 6

 Hello and greetings

 In this week we covered 2 topics ; Product Life Cycle and Cradle-to-Cradle design. Without further ado, let us begin !!!

Product Life Cycle 

We have learnt about the relationships between design and materials before in the previous weeks. However, This alone is not sufficient for the design of chemical products. this is where product life cycle comes in as it informs us about the attributes of a certain material to be used in our product to optimize its benefits. More specifically, environmental sustainability. 

What is environmental sustainability?

A sustainable design is a product that takes into consideration its environmental, social and economic impacts from the initial phase to the end of its life.

A product life cycle consists of 6 stages:

-Raw materials/ Extraction

-Manufacturing and Production

-Packaging

-Distribution

-Use

-Disposal 

-Back to raw materials and cycle continues

Raw materials/Extraction 

In this stage, as the name suggests, materials are extracted from raw materials such as trees/stones or anything natural for that matter. most of the time, the materials are taken from trees; logs.

Manufacturing and production

In this stage, the raw materials that are brought in is then being processed and made into a different material. For example, pulp is extracted from wood fibers and is bleached and cleaned. The fibers are then rolled into paper sheets to be heated. The resulting paper is then cut to size. from this, we can see that the manufacturing is a process whereby the raw materials are made into new materials that will serve its function in the chemical product.

Packaging

In this stage, the finished chemical product is then being packed and sealed for future use by consumers. they are packaged into boxes and wrapped in plastic films.

Distribution

The products that are packaged are then being shipped off to its dealers/distributors/shops in many other countries -- ready to be sold to consumers.

Use 

In this stage, consumers(you and I) use the product to its full capacity. 

Disposal

Although it is self explanatory, the disposal of the products can go 3 ways ; Reuse, Recycle and Disposal 

In "Reuse", the product is given to other people for free or sell it for profit/reduced cost. For "Recycle", the used products are recovered and recycled to produce other products. In "Disposal", the products end up in landfills or incinerators to be disposed.

In summary, a chemical product life cycle is heavily influenced by its design. Therefore it is our responsibility to design a product that is environmentally sufficient, with the potential for it to be reused and recycled, in the name of environmental sustainability. So that it is not detrimental to the environment. While manufacturers would like to meet customers' needs, it is mandatory that they take into consideration the environmental and societal means. 

Here are some examples of design factors that would make an environmentally sustainable product:

-Selecting sustainable raw materials

-The composition of a product allows it to be reused, recycled or disposed

-Maximizing raw materials' use to have zero waste

-Products designed with modular components

Cradle-to-Cradle Design

Contrary to the conventional product life cycle, in reality, a product's life cycle is not closed. This means that after the "use" stage, it does not get reused or recycled. Therefore, most products fall into the Cradle-to-Grave product system.

What is Cradle-to-Grave?

Cradle-to-Grave is a system whereby its products go through the same stages in the product life cycle. However, after the last stage of its life cycle, it goes straight to disposal. Hence, the word "grave". This means that the product is being thrown into landfills or incinerators.

This system benefits the environment by means of reducing, reusing and recycling. However, this is not effective as the extraction of a material results in more waste being produced, and in the future only a small percentage of the same material is being recycled after years of production.

What is Cradle-to-Cradle design?

It is a biomimetic approach to the design of products and systems that emulates nature's processes. To put it simply, it copies nature's way of doing things into its product(LOL). It aims to delete the idea of waste by using the power of designing a product from the start. 

In this system, waste materials in an old product become "food" for a new product. What this means is that after it is being used, the product will be broken down to its simplest molecular form which will then be a form of compost/nutrients from which new materials can be created. For eg, nutrients for trees.

Cradle-to-Cradle Design Principles

For us to know what materials to use in our chemical product such that it obeys the cradle-to-cradle design, there are a few principles that are set for us to follow. From these principles, we can then narrow down our choices and hence choose our specific material to be used in our product. The principles are;

-Nutrients become nutrients again

Naturally, the processes of every organism involved in a system contribute to the health of everyone. This means that every living organism benefit off of each other. 

-Use of renewable energies

We draw the energy that we get today through renewable energy sources such as solar panels, dam and wind turbines -- which is a better source of energy than burning fossil fuels.

-Celebrate diversity

Diversity makes ecosystems more responsive and resilient in changing conditions. This is where different companies focusing on different aspects of the same goal, work together to get the same outcome.