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PhD Research Proposal
By Alex | September 1, 2008
Document first created: 27/8/08
Author: Alex Plant
Revision: 3
Title of research project
An evaluation of industry’s acceptance and implementation of BS8887 and its influence upon sustainable industrial design
Background
The mineral resources of our planet are continually extracted and used to manufacture goods and products that are sold through vast retail networks. At the end of their useful working lives, which are often short owing to perceived and built-in obsolescence, these products are discarded [Birkeland, 2002, p43]. The resulting waste is dumped in landfill sites, incinerated or increasingly recycled and remanufactured.Wasteful disposal of end-of-life products results in the loss of valuable materials and their embodied energy whilst adding to pollution, and depriving future generations of natural resources. In addition to moral issues and the damage that we are doing to our own environment, the linear model of materials extraction and disposal will ultimately result in economic failure as the resources upon which industry depends will be depleted. It is impossible to indefinitely maintain such a linear system on a finite planet [Leonard, 2005]. The process continues to accelerate as a result of the burgeoning human population and increasing standards of living [Herring, 2006, p8].
In order to address this problem, it is essential that we find ways to use our finite resources more efficiently. This was one of the major themes of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit policy document ‘Agenda 21’: “the major cause for continued deterioration of the global environment is the unsustainable pattern of consumption and production, particularly in industrialised countries”. We can improve this situation by making the materials economy cyclical rather than linear [Leonard, 2005]. To do this we must minimise the disposal stage and replace it with recycling and remanufacture.
The British standards Institute (BSI) has published the first part of a standard intended to help designers create products that are easier to reprocess at the end-of-life (EOL) stage. This is called ‘Manufacture, Assembly, Disassembly, and End-of-life Processing’ (MADE) or BS8887. Dr Brian Griffiths of Brunel University chairs the committee responsible for the creation of this standard and is currently working on the development of parts two and three.
The second part of the standard, BS8887-2, will focus upon ‘Terms and Definitions’ and will be published in the next six months. The third part of the standard, BS8887-3, will suggest ‘route maps’ for new product development that will provide the designer with EOL processing options and assist in the decision to design for re-manufacture or recycling. The standard will provide advice on the most appropriate design for EOL processing based on the material composition of a product [Griffiths, 2008]. The aim of the proposed research is to assess the effectiveness of BS8887-1 and contribute to BS8887-3.
Research questions
- How do industrial product designers and manufacturers approach design for end-of-life processing (DFEP)?
- What existing work has been done in DFEP standards in Europe and internationally?
- Investigate previous work carried out within the area of decision ‘route maps’ for new product development. How can these ideas be incorporated into the third part of the MADE standard?
- What EOL product design options and information should be provided within BS8887-3, and how should it be presented to the product developer to assist in deciding between design for remanufacture or recycling?
- How effective and how useful has the published first part of the MADE standard been? How could it be improved
Methodology
The project will begin with an extensive literature review based on recently published papers from respected journals, as well as publications from European and other standards organisations and the BSI. Current material on the subject of sustainable design and the environment will also be consulted and referenced. This activity should provide answers to questions 2 and 3, and background for questions 1 and 4 above. The literature review will also establish the relationship between standards, legislation and directives.
To satisfactorily answer questions 1, 4 and 5, original research will be required. This will take the form of an extensive industrial survey requiring collaboration with practicing industrial designers. The precise research method will be defined following a research methodology review. This is currently a work in progress and will be written as one of the chapters of the final thesis. It is certain however that a rigorous approach will be adopted; using conventions borrowed from the qualitative research methods of the social sciences. It is probabile that the folowing stages will be nessary:
- Gather data (around fifty interviews etc.).
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Transcribe.
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Proofing process – send transcript back to interviewee for approval, also probe for any further thoughts that the interviewee has had. Place any other questions to the interviewee that have arisen during proofing.
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Carictrise statements within transcripts using an appropraite softwaire package.
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Arange statements thematickly to prove the affectiveness of BS8887-1 or highlight dificultys NB the first part of the standard has been avaliable for about a year and a half so it should be possible to talk to practitioners who have tride to implement it if a list of customer contact detailes or acreadetided orginasations can be made avaliable.
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Arange statements thematickly to sugest possible answers to question 4 including some of the better idears incounted during the survey.
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Propose meterial sutiable for inclusion in BS8887-3 and test its valadity and likley axceptence; this could acheved therough a smaller repeat survay with refrence of the draft proposals and through expermintation with design workshops where the afect of the use of the dission matrecess and draft standard can be quntifyed by comparison with the results of a control group attempting to design a similer product but without inviromental guidence.
Significance of research and objectives
The successful completion of the work proposed within this document and the project plan should result in the following:
- Contribution to knowledge suitable for inclusion in BS8887-3 through the development and testing of suitable decision matrices or flowcharts.
- Contribution to knowledge by collecting feedback from industry regarding the usefulness and effectiveness of the existing published first part of the MADE standard; and making recommendations for improvements to future revisions if necessary.
Degree of novelty or risk
This is a project that should lead to several high value contributions to knowledge based on an extensive amount of industrial survey work with qualitative research and assessment techniques. The outcomes are likely have the potential to make a significant impact because of the accepted authoritative value and wide distribution of British Standards.
Dissemination
It is intended that the findings of this research will be distributed through a combination of academic papers and the publication of the MADE standard to which this work should contribute.
Proposed journal paper subjects include:
- The value of standards in design for sustainability – this will be a shortened version of the literature review.
- A discussion and summary of the results of the industrial survey.
- A discussion and summary of design workshop experiments.
The influence of British Standards extends beyond the shores of the U.K. as other standards bodies follow the work of the BSI. For example, BS5750 was submitted to Europe as an example of good practice. The International Standards Organisation (ISO) agreed and produced the quality standard ISO9000 based upon it [Griffiths, 2008].
Conclusion
This research should result in a valuable and achievable contribution to knowledge that will genuinely influence the activities of manufacturing organisations and lead to the development of products that can be readily recycled or reprocessed. This should increase the financial profitability of EOL processing, reduce the requirement to extract and refine virgin materials, and minimise waste going into landfill and the associated pollution.
References
Birkeland, J. (2002). Design for Sustainability, Bath: The Bath Press
Griffiths, B. (2008). Transcript. [Meeting with Dr Brian Griffiths, Monday 7th July 2008]. Brunel University, School of Engineering and Design.
Herring H. (2006). Consumption: Innovation for Sustainability, The Open University. Margate: Thanet Press Ltd.
Leonard A. (2005). The Story of Stuff, Film directed by Fox L. Free Range Studios – From: http://www.storyofstuff.com/ Date accessed 9/7/08
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