Title: Designing from the dumpster: experiences of developing products using discards

Authors: Isabel Ordoñez; Oskar Rexfelt

Addresses: Department for Product and Production Development, Division Design and Human Factors, Chalmers University of Technology, SE – 412 96 Göteborg, Sweden ' Department for Product and Production Development, Division Design and Human Factors, Chalmers University of Technology, SE – 412 96 Göteborg, Sweden

Abstract: This article presents results from the waste to design (W2D) project, which analysed six product development thesis projects that were carried out to make use of specific waste materials. The W2D project investigated the challenges faced when designing with waste and how these can be addressed. A need was found for a pre-process, where material properties are analysed, several possible application areas are suggested and screening is subsequently performed to determine which product type to develop. The main challenge observed was the lack of reliable material property data for the discarded materials, which hindered well-informed screening. Understanding the processes needed for designing with waste is a first step in facilitating this work in the future.

Keywords: ecodesign; resource recovery; upcycling; industrial waste; material cycles; closed loop; sustainable design; design education; design process; design methods; product development.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSDES.2017.091701

International Journal of Sustainable Design, 2017 Vol.3 No.2, pp.61 - 78

Received: 12 Jan 2016
Accepted: 10 Aug 2016
Published online: 14 May 2018 *

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