Select Committee on Science and Technology Sixth Report

CHAPTER 3: DESIGN, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY

Sustainable design

3.1.  Witnesses suggested that around 80 per cent of a product's environmental impact can be eliminated through better design (pp 86, 96, 177). The Resource Efficient Design (RED) Initiative at De Montfort University commented that these environmental impacts can include "environmental damage in sourcing materials, emissions and waste in production and wasted energy in use, in addition to the environmental impacts of disposal" (p 204). So strategies to enable the reduction of waste are often linked to measures which have other beneficial environmental consequences such as savings in the amount of carbon, energy or water used. Together, these feed into a general notion of sustainability, a concept which is now receiving growing attention from businesses and governments.

3.2.  In order to design waste out of a product or system at the development stage, the RED Initiative identified six different design strategies, which we explore in more detail below. None of the strategies can be used in isolation and we recognise that waste reduction must be considered against other concerns as part of the larger aim of environmental and economic sustainability.

DESIGN FOR DISASSEMBLY

3.3.  Designing products for disassembly at the end of their lives enables useful materials and components to be removed easily with minimal effort and energy. In order to do this, consideration must be taken of the fasteners or adhesives used to bond parts together, the modularity of a product and the robustness of its parts.

3.4.  There has been some suggestion that "smart materials" could be utilised to assist product disassembly, in which the properties can be significantly altered in a controlled manner by factors such as heat, moisture, stress or electric currents. "The smart material aspect is an interesting one," commented Dr Jonathan Chapman, Senior Lecturer in 3D Design at the University of Brighton. He cited the example of a polymer which could be used in a mobile phone which, when exposed to a certain frequency of sound or light, "expands slightly which forces the chassis of a mobile phone to pop apart." There are still challenges to be overcome and Miss Holly McCain from the RED Initiative commented that "there needs to be a lot more research into the practicalities of using these materials" such as the stimuli which trigger them to disassemble. Her colleague Miss Lizzie Dutton agreed, adding that there "would be a trust issue for the designers" of unexpected disassembly which would need to be overcome before smart materials could be used (Q 418).

3.5.  It was also suggested that the tagging of certain components could be used to assist the automatic sorting of materials once products have been disassembled. This would require thought at the design stage to ensure that the tag contained the necessary information. Professor Sue Grimes from the Centre for Environmental Control and Waste Management at Imperial College London, said that to begin with a tag such as a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag could be used, but moving on from this she supported the development of a "conducting polymer type tag, which effectively will give us just an ink spot of information on each component within a product that will be of value at end-of-life" (Q 629).

3.6.  The Technology Strategy Board (TSB) pointed out that the use of RFID tags would depend on the value of goods; although they are used extensively for a pallet of goods or for individual high value items, their costs would not "justify their use on individual low-value items." They added that "all tagging approaches will add complexity to the system and the RFID also needs to be removed in the recycling step, or be compatible with it" (p 251). The use of such strategies would therefore depend on the particular product stream and the market for each component.

PRODUCT LIGHT-WEIGHTING

3.7.  Light-weighting is one of the main strategies employed by the Courtauld commitment. This voluntary agreement between the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), manufacturers and retailers was launched in 2005 to develop innovative solutions to reduce the amount of packaging that consumers have to throw away. It has made good progress in reducing the weight of many forms of packaging and WRAP claimed that its work had "resulted in 36,500 tonnes of glass savings" within the first 12 months of the project (p 96). The aluminium industry has also made good progress in reducing the amount of material used in products such as drinks cans and foil packaging, with the Aluminium Federation (ALFED) and Aluminium Packaging Recycling Organisation (ALUPRO) reporting that in the last 15 years the gauge of flexible aluminium packaging foil had been reduced by 33 per cent, and between 1985 and 2003 the weight of aluminium drinks cans had reduced by around 28 per cent. As they state, "clearly this has led to a significant reduction in the amount of aluminium required" (p 129).

3.8.  Reducing the weight of products and their packaging not only reduces the amount of material required, but usually also reduces the amount of energy consumed in their manufacture, transport and use. For example, light aluminium-bodied cars often consume less fuel during use than their steel-bodied counterparts (p 356).

DESIGN FOR DURABILITY

3.9.  For most products, a significant proportion of their environmental impacts arise during production so, as the Environmental Industries Commission (EIC) observed, "it is a fairly inescapable conclusion that to reduce waste and conserve resource, we need products that last longer" (p 114). Due to improvements in design and the technical performance of new materials, many products now last longer than their counterparts did half a century ago. However, this approach relies on consumers reining in their consumption habits and valuing their older, perhaps slightly out of date, products when new models are placed on the market. This strategy thus depends on wider policies to address consumption, which we discuss in chapter five.

RECYCLABILITY

3.10.  Another strategy to reduce the life-cycle impacts of products is to create them using materials which can be easily recycled. Aluminium, for example, can be recycled infinitely "without any loss of quality" and so is often advantageous compared to other metals which may experience down-cycling (a gradual deterioration in quality). ALFED and ALUPRO claimed that the recycling of aluminium saved "up to 95 per cent of the energy used in primary production" and prevented 97 per cent of the greenhouse gas emissions (p 128).

3.11.  Recyclability must be considered alongside other eco-design strategies such as product light-weighting, as the two are not always harmonious. For example, Ms Bickerstaffe noted that the increased use of laminates (layers of different materials) had contributed to the reduction of packaging weight but were difficult to recycle. She suggested that designers had to look at the big picture when making these decisions and added that "sometimes laminates are the most effective, sometimes they will allow you to have far fewer lorries on the road delivering goods because they are such a tiny amount of material" (QQ 478, 498).

RE-USABILITY

3.12.  Our society now demands that products are updated regularly and the concept of repair has become less fashionable. Industry needs to find alternative ways to "re-use" products and one way in which this can be done involves making products more modular. This is especially useful for products whose aesthetics are as important as the function of the products themselves. Mr Arnold Black, Network Director of the Resource Efficiency Knowledge Transfer Network (REKTN), suggested that the re-use of components is especially valuable in products such as mobile phones where "you just change the case, change the look, and the chip in it stays the same" (Q 441).

3.13.  Modularity is the basis around which the furniture company, Vitsoe, has modelled its business plan. The company developed a shelving and chair programme in the 1960s which can be dismantled, rearranged or reinstalled and parts can still be purchased today to update and add to these systems. This strategy relies on strong customer loyalty but appears to have been successful and the company claimed that it was "almost unheard of for Vitsoe's furniture to be thrown away" (p 210).

CRADLE TO CRADLE DESIGN

3.14.  In 2002, McDonough and Braungart set out their notion of "cradle to cradle" design.[17] This concept for sustainable design proposes that human design could learn from natural processes, where nutrients circulate in closed-loop systems with everything being re-used and nothing wasted. When embracing the cradle to cradle approach, designers must consider the environmental impacts of materials and products throughout their product life and beyond. Material selection is a key part of this process; natural materials which can be returned to the ecosystem, or those which are infinitely recyclable, are usually the best options.

3.15.  The EIC pointed out that product durability and the retention of older products might have to be disregarded "where improvements in operational efficiency outweigh the environmental costs of producing new products" (p 114). For example, disposing of an old refrigerator and replacing it with a new, more energy-efficient version might be less detrimental to the environment than retaining the old inefficient unit. Within the automotive industry, Ford claimed that 85 per cent of a vehicle's carbon dioxide emissions was associated with its in-use phase and pointed out that recycling-driven changes or designs for disassembly which detrimentally affected this phase could "have a net negative effect over the life-cycle" (p 462). So as part of this process, designers must also recognise that environmental trade-offs sometimes have to be made.

Challenges to sustainable design

3.16.  Despite the development of strategies which can eliminate waste through better design, most of our witnesses agreed that this still was not a priority in the minds of most designers. Dr Tracy Bhamra, Reader in Sustainable Design and Research Co-ordinator at Loughborough University, told us that there is currently a bit of an "ad hoc approach" to cradle to cradle design and that "there are some examples of designers thinking about issues of, maybe, recycling or, maybe energy consumption, but I would not say it was a general approach that most designers adopt" (Q 356). The reasons for this are numerous and complex, but some of the major difficulties that witnesses identified included the requirements set by business, the ways in which designers are educated and a poor knowledge of materials' properties.

BUSINESS REQUIREMENTS

3.17.  Some large companies have been embracing eco-design principles as part of their design processes for a number of years. The Design Council cited companies such as Electrolux, Unilever, Nike and Toyota which are "already using design to address sustainability," and suggested that companies which invested in design out-performed in "practically every measure of business performance including market share, growth, productivity, share price and competitiveness" (pp 176-177). Nevertheless, it appeared that good examples of eco-design were few and far between. Designers have to follow the design briefs provided by their clients and sustainability and waste reduction do not often feature very highly as part of their requirements. As Dr Tim Cooper from the Centre for Sustainable Consumption at Sheffield Hallam University pointed out, although designers would like to consider the end-of-life impacts of their products, they "are told they have a specific brief" and cannot work beyond that (Q 80). Ms Clare Brass, Founder of the Social Environmental Enterprise and Design (SEED) Foundation, agreed that the cradle to cradle approach was "very beautiful and a very healthy approach to design," but suggested that the capability of designers to embrace it was limited by their relationship with their clients who were "unlikely to be asking for it" (Q 356).

3.18.  Many businesses are often unaware of the potential financial gains to be made from reducing waste, especially small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Mr Martin Charter from the Centre for Sustainable Design at the University College for the Creative Arts pointed out that SMEs generally have "no knowledge" of the issues (Q 80). This was compounded by the fact that small businesses often did not have access to sufficient collection and recycling facilities to make a cradle to cradle approach practical. Dr Frank O'Connor, Director of the Ecodesign Centre Wales, commented that "from a small business perspective it is very difficult to implement cradle to cradle" and "from a resource point of view and a cost point of view, it is not feasible at the moment" (Q 356). Hence small businesses often did not have the incentives to drive their designers in this direction.

3.19.  A further difficulty identified was that design was often viewed as an additional, almost extraneous, part of the product development process, rather than an integral feature. Experts at the Centre for Resource Efficiency and Management at Cranfield University suggested that "eco-design is seen as contributing to product and market enhancement, rather than as an essential function" (p 34), and the RED Initiative agreed, adding that "currently, resource-efficient design is viewed as a specialist or retrospective discipline. Enterprises of all sizes tend to only actively apply strategies of eco-design when they perceive that there are benefits to be gained from 'green marketing' resulting from the applied eco-design" (p 206).

BUSINESS SOLUTIONS

3.20.  The key, as Dr O'Connor pointed out, is to ensure that design is not just considered as an "add-on process" but that it forms "part of the overall business strategy for any organisation." Furthermore, there is a need to "inspire businesses to consider environmental and social issues in parallel with economic issues," demonstrating that waste reduction can deliver economic benefits, and to encourage companies to build sustainability into their business strategies (Q 358). The Design Council recognised that "many businesses currently see environmental factors as barriers to growth rather than opportunities for innovation" and noted that its innovation service for SMEs, Designing Demand, would target a total of 6,500 businesses by 2010 (p 178). The Design Council said that until recently its focus has been "principally to work with businesses … driving up the demand for design." Mrs Lesley Morris, Head of Skills at the Design Council, recognised that there was now a need to work with the designers as well "because they have not got that knowledge" and noted that, in partnership with the Sector Skills Council for Creative and Cultural Skills, they had begun to "look at what the skills development needs are" (Q 380).

3.21.  An alternative approach to ensure that businesses integrate sustainability and waste reduction measures into their design processes is to use regulation. Producer responsibility regulations have certainly stimulated some discussions about sustainable design and waste. Dr Chapman commented that the WEEE Directive had given design "an opportunity to reinvent itself" and caused businesses to reconsider the "way we think about processes such as consumption and waste" (Q 407). He questioned, however, the extent to which practising designers knew or understood the implications of the WEEE Directive and commented that legislation "often fails to penetrate" to the level of designers. Instead, he suggested that different incentives were needed to encourage sustainable design within the industry, such as awards to recognise those who had broken the boundaries and successfully moved the sustainable agenda forward (Q 410).

3.22.  The success of other producer responsibility directives at encouraging change has been questionable. Dr Bhamra commented that "most cars meet the End-of-Life Vehicles Directive without very much change to their design" and technological developments have focused on producing "high yields in recycling rather than huge changes in design of the product." This was an inherent problem with all end-of-life obligations due to the way that businesses tended to calculate their costs. Dr Bhamra commented that "unfortunately … they do not cost the whole life of the product when they design it; they design to the manufacturing cost and then worry about the end-of-life costs if there is some legislation there. So it is not looked at comprehensively at the start of the design process" (Q 370). As for packaging, the Sustainable Development Commission (SDC) felt that the recycling provisions of the Packaging Waste Directive had "not put high enough costs on producers to force them to rethink product design" and the Packaging (Essential Requirements) Regulations had failed to drive waste minimisation as they were "vague, self-monitored and poorly enforced" (p 289).

3.23.  The EuP Directive places an obligation on businesses to consider the energy efficiency of their products. Green Alliance suggested that this could be implemented to set standards for other elements of design, claiming that "it could be the first genuine driver of product re-design" (p 284). However, the framework directive has only just been developed and the Government said that although it could be used to set requirements for a number of environmental impacts, "the focus initially, will be on energy efficiency measures" (p 6).

3.24.  In itself, therefore, regulation has had limited effect in improving design. The RED Initiative's experience with small design consultancies showed that there was a desire for legislation to force designers and clients to apply eco-design strategies, but consideration also had to be given to the practicalities of implementing such legislation in businesses, "such as the cost implications, and availability and communications about eco-materials and systems in the supply chain" (p 208). Another difficulty, as Miss Dutton highlighted, was that legislation had to focus on specific details that "may not be appropriate for a lot of product design development situations" and did not foster innovation (Q 399).

3.25.  Miss McCain noted that a lot of businesses are "quite confused about what legislation there is at the moment and what they have to do" (Q 401). Furthermore, the RED Initiative commented that there was no regulatory body within the design industry that was clearly taking the lead in implementing legislation and providing guidance to designers. It felt that the Design Council was "not seen by designers or the larger organisations that they produce work for as being regulatory or having any real control in implementing legislation" and the Chartered Society of Designers, the Royal Society of Arts and the Institution of Engineering Designers were not widely recognised as fulfilling this role either (p 207). Thus for SMEs in particular, imposing more regulations upon businesses which are already confused about existing regulations may only serve to make the situation worse.

EDUCATION AND TRAINING

3.26.  According to research by the Design Council, even when environmentally aware businesses do seek design solutions "they are beginning to find that UK designers don't always have the relevant expertise" (p 177). Dr Bhamra suggested that the teaching of sustainable design was patchy and at A Level, it "seems to be down to individual members of staff with an enthusiasm and interest for the subject to introduce it." At undergraduate level, the position appears to be little better. Some specialist degrees in sustainable design are available, but Dr Bhamra noted that these "do not tend to be particularly popular with students" (Q 360). Instead, the general consensus was that sustainable design and considerations of waste reduction should be incorporated into every design course. In Ms Brass's view, "it should be an underlying necessity of every design student, so that every designer [who leaves college] will be able to use what they know to reduce the environmental impact in their professional life" (Q 361). Professor Grimes felt that there was a good case for "introducing undergraduates to sustainability and waste issues" but that it was less crucial at this level, and it might be best to bring these subjects together within Masters and Doctorate programmes, where students had the opportunity to interact with industry (Q 621).

3.27.  The term "designer" is very wide and can be interpreted in a number of ways, covering professionals who act as stylists, industrial designers or engineers in a wide range of fields such as fashion and textile, consumables, chemicals or electrical products. Ms Brass pointed out that "we are still training designers in very specific fields, and the complexity of the issues that we are required to address now means that designers should be exposed to other areas of design and, indeed, to other professional capacities while they are still studying." Dr Bhamra agreed that "designers need to start broadening their horizons in order to address these issues" (Q 357).

3.28.  The Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) had, according to Dr David Evans, Director for Innovation, begun to address this problem by establishing a new institute with the Royal College of Art and Imperial College "bringing the design and engineering aspects of both education and product design together with significant funding." He said that their objective was "to create similar linkages between other leading edge design schools and the engineering departments in universities" (Q 54). Establishing these multi-disciplinary links will be vital in providing designers with the necessary skills to develop innovative solutions to reduce waste.

3.29.  Consideration of end-of-life aspects at the design stage is still a relatively new concept. Mrs Morris said that there was "some work to be done to train the trainers" as not everybody had the expertise to understand the issues, teach them and integrate them appropriately into courses (Q 361). Some work has been undertaken to begin to address this problem and the Ecodesign Centre Wales has been working with four universities in Wales which provide design education to encourage them to embed sustainable design and social design into mainstream higher education. Dr O'Conner said that they had been working with the trainers and making sure they had the appropriate skills, so that "all undergraduates in Wales over the next five to ten years will be literate in the principles" (Q 362).

3.30.  A more strategic approach to embed sustainability into courses has been taken by engineers. The REKTN noted that professional organisations such as the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) and the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) have all developed sustainability programmes. Mr Malcolm Wilkinson, Chairman of the Sustainability Subject Group at IChemE, told us that sustainable development was now part of the core curriculum for chemical engineering undergraduates. Even in this sector, as it had only been a core component of the curriculum for around three years, he acknowledged there was "an issue around material, around what are you actually going to teach;" although there was the start of a framework, there was "still some way to go" (Q 622). This was perhaps all the more reason to ensure that industry was involved with the education process as much as possible. Not only would it be beneficial for graduates to gain a better understanding of how industry worked, but Professor Mike Gregory, Head of the Institute for Manufacturing at the University of Cambridge, noted that the enthusiasm and awareness of graduates could also be beneficial to businesses as "they can solve real problems very cheaply for companies and … we might even find that young engineers and designers can become the trainers" (Q 243).

3.31.  The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), together with the Design Council, has been facilitating visits to centres of excellence in other countries to assist UK higher education institutions develop their curriculum. Visits for higher education institutions to businesses have been arranged to "understand business demands for designers, innovators etc, as well as the use made in business of multi-disciplinary teams" (p 428). Mr Ian Pearson MP, Minister of State for Science and Innovation at DIUS, told us that the Creative and Cultural Skills Sector Skills Council had "worked on design modules for undergraduate courses at a university level" and had also recommended approaches "developing design education in schools to ensure that design is built into people's awareness at an early age." He added that the Design Council had been working with the sector skills council to create a High-levels skills for higher value plan[18] to "improve the professional skills of the UK design industry." The implementation plan to support this was outlined in the Design Blueprint[19] produced in March 2008. Furthermore, he noted that there were plans to set up a UK design skills alliance, "a partnership with industry and education to take forward the recommendations of the plan." Mr Pearson felt that "the profile of design and the importance of design and sustainable design have really rocketed in the last few years and lessons are being learned across Government but across industry as well" (Q 864).

3.32.  It is important to recognise that the perceptions of businesses need to be addressed. Mr John Holbrow, Chairman of the Environment Committee at the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), told us that the range of waste regulations were confusing for businesses and added that "from the small business angle it is feasible to design out waste but most small businesses are looking to survive for tomorrow, next week, next year. Although they are very conscious of their need to contribute to waste reduction there is no real incentive for a small business to do it … We think that Government should be raising awareness to the small business community to make them aware of what they should be doing and what advantages there are to do it." He explained that "the perception is amongst the owners of small businesses that there are so many other things they have to do that they do not necessarily see waste reduction as a way of increasing profits … the problem is getting the message across and getting the education system there so that people see this" (QQ 153, 156). Hence there is also a need to improve the education and advice provided to businesses, in order to promote waste reduction as a logical business strategy (something which we explore further in chapter six).

PROFESSIONAL REGULATION

3.33.  Unlike architecture, civil engineering and other professions, there is no professional regulation of designers and no requirement for them to undertake continual professional development. There was also a reluctance to introduce any such regulation. Instead, it was felt that more effort needed to be put into ensuring that designers had appropriate training. Dr Chapman added that it was important for design to be recognised as "an entrepreneurial opportunist enterprise … that can create new scenarios and new potential for situations." He argued that any regulation of the profession "would need to be very carefully managed if put in place" and that excessive regulation may stifle innovation (Q 405). Ms Brass agreed, arguing that "training designers to have more entrepreneurial skills would enable them to break out of the private sector and work with the third sector and the public sector, and apply their problem-solving skills to solving social and environmental problems" (Q 387).

3.34.  The Design Council was also wary of regulating the profession and told us that "designers are very clearly saying they do not want that; they do not want to be over-regulated and they certainly do not want a licence to practise." In addition, because of the large diversity of sectors in which designers are involved, it may be virtually "impossible" to introduce regulation. Although Mrs Morris noted that there may be a time when more regulation is necessary, she insisted that at the moment it was more important to work with the sector to improve the skills of designers (QQ 383-384). Mr Charter said that the Design Council had shown "no leadership" in this area and he thought that the major professional bodies covering both product design and design engineering needed to take more action in this area so that sustainable design did "not just go up and down on the agenda." He added that the Deans of design schools and engineering schools should be more "exposed" to this type of thinking and that there should be "more initiatives like the Royal Academy of Engineering's on professorships related to sustainable engineering" (Q 77).

3.35.  The importance of this area was summarised by the Design Council itself which stated that:

"over the coming years the demand for design that aids sustainable development will rise as regulations become more stringent, consumers become more discerning and businesses require specialist design input. A UK design industry with the skills and confidence to deliver sustainable solutions could become a world leader in this field, collaborating internationally and opening up access to new global markets. To achieve this, a whole-industry response will be required along with effective education and training" (p 176).

Recommendations

3.36.  Some businesses have begun to embrace sustainability principles as part of their product design and development processes, but large gaps in knowledge still exist. There is still confusion amongst businesses regarding their environmental design obligations and designers are often unable to provide solutions as they themselves lack a clear source of guidance to provide clarification. The Design Council and the Higher Education Funding Council for England have begun to address the teaching of sustainability principles but we are concerned that higher education institutions still lack the appropriate knowledge and resources. We recommend that the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills and the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform should take the lead in working with the Design Council, the Higher Education Funding Council for England, design schools, industry and the relevant professional bodies to ensure that sustainability is embedded into the design curriculum, teachers are given the correct training and designers are educated about business requirements and the cost of waste.

3.37.  At present there appears to be little to be gained from regulating the design profession but whilst regulation is not usually welcomed, this is something which the Government should keep under review in the future to ensure that designers exhibit consistent standards of competence. We recommend that the Design Council should take a stronger lead in providing the necessary guidance to designers on how to comply with the principles of eco-design legislation. Designers must also be encouraged to work beyond the minimal level of compliance and we support the use of awards issued by professional bodies to acknowledge those who push the boundaries of sustainable design.

The transfer of knowledge and innovation

3.38.  Witnesses reported that even when designers are aware of the importance of sustainability, they are often reluctant to embrace more sustainable materials and methodologies due to a lack of information about their availability and properties. According to the RED Initiative, designers have indicated that "the main barrier to selection of environmentally-preferable materials is a perceived additional cost. This is combined with a lack of confidence in the quality and performance of eco-materials, as they are often perceived as inferior alternatives" (p 205). Dr Bhamra concurred, adding that "unfortunately, the way information is presented to them at the moment does not give them the confidence that, actually, it will perform in the way that they want, so they will probably be safe and stick with what they know" (Q 359).

3.39.  It is clear that designers need more information about the properties of new materials but among our witnesses opinion was divided on the best way to provide this. One of the major difficulties cited was the absence of simple indices to assess the sustainability criteria of different materials and components (something which we explore further in chapter four). The key to transferring knowledge and stimulating innovation is to encourage greater interaction between designers and those who research and develop new materials. As the RED Initiative argued, there is "a need for more communication between materials scientists, materials suppliers and designers, and collaboration on development 'showcase' projects where new materials can be utilised" (p 208).

3.40.  As part of the Government's Technology Strategy, the TSB supports Knowledge Transfer Networks (KTNs), established to "bring together businesses and academia to exchange knowledge and share best practice with a focus on technology and innovation." In order to assist this transfer of knowledge in the materials sector, the Government has funded the Materials and Design Exchange (MADE), formed from a partnership between the Royal College of Arts, the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IoM), the Institution of Engineering Designers, the Design Council and the Engineering Employers Federation, to "help bring together the design and material technology communities to look at key issues linking product design and manufacture" (pp 29, 31). Dr Norman Swindells, Chairman of the Sustainable Development Group at IoM, told us that MADE had around 1,000 online members, published a regular magazine and held a series of events and meetings, including a recent meeting on waste. In order to encourage innovation it also offers awards for designers "working with materials in novel ways or with a novel use for them." With regard to information about materials' properties, MADE provides a "materials resource centre" which encourages designers to use more innovative materials (Q 610).

3.41.  Dr Peter Hedges, Head of Economy, Environment and Crime at the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), argued that to encourage real innovation a holistic approach to design and sustainability is also required in the research agenda. He explained that "it is quite easy to fund a particular piece of innovation that focuses on, say, one area of technology or is relevant to one manufacturing process or to one company" but to really improve resource efficiency on a long-term basis, other research programmes need to "have a more holistic understanding of the whole resource and energy life-cycle." In order to do this, he explained that research had to involve designers, engineers, marketing people and everybody else involved in the product development process, and they had tried to take this "multidisciplinary approach" in commissioning some of their research programmes (Q 429).

3.42.  The REKTN commented that in the past, improvements to design and process optimisation had focused on local issues within the factory, "dealing with waste arising, rather than seeking fundamental solutions that would eliminate or reduce waste generation." The Network felt that new legislation and the cost of waste disposal were now motivating businesses to take a waste reduction approach. They claimed that step changes in this area could "only be achieved through the development of new technologies and/or approaches" (p 234). The TSB had also grasped the nettle when it came to innovation, running challenge-based competitions such as "Zero Emission Enterprises" in 2005 and 2006. By providing a wide remit in these competitions, they hoped that new and exciting ideas would emerge whilst also encouraging the business and academic communities, through a collaborative research and development programme, "to form consortia that will bring all the relevant competencies to bear to address that challenge." It was hoped that innovative solutions to reduce industrial and commercial waste streams would be achieved "through encouraging better process design, the use of new or improved materials, and process optimization." Their "Design and Manufacture of Sustainable Products" research call in 2005 offered organisations the challenge to "collaborate in the research and development of innovative, sustainable products" by adopting new approaches (Q 434, p 230).

3.43.  When we discussed current research with Mr Pearson, he drew our attention to a number of research projects being carried out by research councils and the TSB, and he recognised the importance of "bringing together researchers from across a range of disciplines." He commented that the KTNs were "looking at the market, looking at opportunities, sharing best practice [and] contacts and delivering market-led solutions" to problems. Mr Pearson also referred to innovation platforms which bring business and research communities together, suggesting that waste management was a potential topic for a future innovation platform (QQ 835, 859).

3.44.  Dr John Whittall, Lead Technologist of Sustainable Technologies at the TSB, told us that over the last four years around £35 million worth of collaborative research and development had been funded through Defra's Business Resource Efficiency and Waste (BREW) programme, but that this would not continue to be financed. Mr Jeremy Tait, Programme Manager at MTP, reported that their funding would be drastically cut in the next financial year, noting that in 2007-08 the MTP had received around £4.8 million from Defra funds, but for 2008-09 they would only receive £2.75 million (QQ 471-472).

3.45.  DIUS confirmed that the TSB would "no longer be in receipt of ring-fenced funding" as the BREW programme had ceased, but added that the TSB had a budget of £711 million over the next three years. An additional £180 million would be earmarked by the Regional Development Agencies and £120 million by the Research Councils to spend on joint activities with the TSB. The Department felt that "it is for the Technology Strategy Board to determine priorities and therefore where the funding is invested." With regard to waste reduction, DIUS reported that the TSB would work with Defra to "explore opportunities to establish an Innovation Platform" and would "continue to fund business led research projects addressing key application areas such as waste management and resource efficiency alongside research into key technology areas." DIUS also noted that the Research Councils "do not receive a specific allocation for waste related research" as they are responsible for determining funding allocations themselves (p 431).

Recommendation

3.46.  The research councils, knowledge transfer networks, technology strategy board and market transformation programme have recognised that in order to encourage true innovation and waste reduction, multi-disciplinary research is required which embraces designers, materials scientists, engineers and social scientists. Good work is now being undertaken to promote innovation and share knowledge, but we are concerned that recent cuts in ring-fenced funding will undermine some of this vital research and the transfer of existing knowledge. It is crucial that the Government continue to provide adequate funding to support the work of these organisations and that it also provides clear direction, by the use of ring-fenced funding if necessary, that research into resource efficiency and novel processes must remain priorities.

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17   McDonough and Braungart, Cradle to cradle: remaking the way we make things, 2002, North Point Press. Back

18   Design Council, Creative and Cultural Skills Sector Skills Council and the Design Skills Advisory Panel, High-level skills for higher value, 2007. Back

19   Design Council, Creative and Cultural Skills Sector Skills Council and the Design Skills Advisory Panel, Design Blueprint, 2008. Back