Memorandum by Milled Carbon Ltd
Milled Carbon Ltd is an SME formed four years
ago to seek a route to recycling carbon fibre composites. We have
developed a process that continuously recovers carbon fibre from
carbon fibre composites be they cured or un-cured. We are selling
the recovered fibres back into the industry at a much reduced
cost relative to virgin fibres with only a 10 per cent reduction
in physical and mechanical properties. We have captured the attention
of major companies such as Boeing, Airbus, Bombardier, BAe, GKN,
GE, Ford, BMW, Renault, Maclaren, Honda, the marine industry and
the MOD to name but a few. We work closely with a number of UK
universities on research into recycling methods and materials
testing.
BETTER DESIGN
AND THE
USE OF
MATERIALS
What role can better design and materials play
in minimising the creation of waste? Are there any barriers to
how knowledge in this area can best be translated and applied?
Quite simply, designers must consider the whole
lifecycle of the product they are designing. This means they must
consider how all the component parts will be dealt with at end
of life, and in some cases choosing materials for which there
is a known route to recycling. Thought must also be given to how
the material is used to minimise waste arising from the manufacturing
process. This consideration is taking longer to sink in, but having
said that current manufacturing processes will be slow to change
simply because this does not happen overnight.
What factors influence the use of materials? In
what way do considerations of sustainability feature in the selection
of most commonly used materials? To what extent do product designers
and engineers take into account the availability and the end of
life impacts of raw materials?
Cost, availability and fitness for purpose.
The choice of materials will depend ultimately on cost of raw
materials and the on cost to consumers. If consumers want a greener
world they are more likely to pay for a more sustainable product,
although sustainability has its limits. Availability of materials
is paramount, if as in our industry, carbon fibre, there is a
shortage, designers will shy away from specifying a material that
has limited availability. Fitness for purpose should not be underestimated,
no matter how green a designer wants to be, if a material is not
fit for purpose it defeats the object of the design and perhaps
less sustainable materials will have to be considered.
What impact does the development of new materials
have on design? How much interaction is there between material
scientists and designers?
Experience shows that there is a considerable
gap between what scientists say can be done with materials and
what engineers can actually do, as in the case of nano-carbons.
In some cases there have been up to 50 per cent of failures in
the production of nano carbon fibres. It's the job of the engineers
to feed back to the scientists so that we can get the best of
research commercialised in a timely manner.
Can better designed products offset the increase
in consumption?
As long as it is cheaper to buy a new appliance
than repair it, consumption will continue unabated. An enlightened
few will attempt to reverse this by personal effort but on the
whole the populace just wants a working toaster or iron by the
easiest and cheapest method. Better design can push us in the
right direction but ultimately we need a long term plan for reducing
the "throw away and buy new" mentality. In terms of
the carbon fibre industry, if better design equals lower cost,
longer life and better margins, the fact that the method used
to get it is actually wasteful is pushed to the back of the mind.
No one really wants to contemplate the sea changes throughout
industry that this will actually entail.
Are there any other gaps in knowledge and how
are they being addressed?
Government fails miserably when trying to get
the message across. At best we get mixed messages which are then
further muddied by government agencies and NGOs all extolling
the virtues of sustainability without ensuring the full message
is delivered, ie sometimes full sustainability in a product is
just not practical unless we stop the habit of consuming it.
BUSINESS FRAMEWORK
Does the current policy, regulatory and legal
framework support and incentivise the development of better, more
sustainable products and processes? How is the framework communicated
to businesses and what is the level of awareness and understanding
among businesses?
Business has got the message, loud and clear,
although we are astonished to hear the introduction of new products
for which no lifecycle analysis has been carried out, most recently
at a conference in Barcelona. The main driver is money, as is
to be expected, but in their eagerness to appear green, some companies
have perhaps overstated their green credentials which just puts
people off.
The regulatory changes over the last few years
have made life far more complicated. Government brings in new
regulation to engender innovation. But the regulation is not keeping
pace with the innovation. It took three years to get guidance
from the Environment Agency about where our recycling process
sits within the new regs. Having said that, we cannot fault the
help our local EA have given us.
How central is sustainable design to business
thinking? What initiatives are in place to encourage this and
are they meeting business needs?
I have found that there is a mixture of company
policy and personal conviction which drives the sustainability
message. We have many enquiries from individuals within companies
who want to "do the right thing". In the case of supply
contracts for new products we are seeing the message driven home
in more practical methods by having contract clauses that state
that there must be a route to recycling as part of the supply
contract. We worry that some businesses are jumping on the green
bandwagon just to get the kudos without really believing in the
message.
What other measures can promote a focus on waste
reduction among businesses?
Greater awareness of the cost of disposal, most
companies we deal with have no idea of the amount of material
they waste and as such seem not to know what the bottom line costs
are. We have been able to show a positive cost reduction for disposal
purely by making companies take note of what they are throwing
away and diverting it from landfill to recycling.
What lessons can business learn from international
experience?
Just how bad the rest of the world is at sustainability.
Perhaps a little unfair as there are some very good efforts by
a number of countries, just not enough.
GOVERNMENT POLICY
What is and should be the role of Government in
addressing the issue of waste reduction?
Stop trying to change consumption habits by
hitting us with green taxes. We think given the chance to be more
sustainable most people will take it, making us pay for it just
causes resentment and resistance.
How does Government policy link up with European
strategies and action plans?
Quite well in many respects, but there is still
an element of over subscription. We are involved with several
UK and EU government initiatives but we are in danger of being
swamped with requests to join the plethora of initiatives that
seem to appear every month. In some cases there is considerable
overlap which just dilutes the effort. There should be one central
body in the UK and the EU and they should co-ordinate to avoid
overlap.
CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR
How can better product design be used to effect
a change in consumption patterns and behaviour?
Better design will always influence consumption
patterns, but only because it is "new" and hopefully
because the new design does have beneficial impact on the environment.
But in the end cost will be the main arbiter. If we really want
to change consumption habits then we have to change the industrial
model of the country. Retail manufacturing is built around being
able to sell the newest model irrespective of the fact that the
last model is only six months old and as long as we are bombarded
with messages to continually adopt the newest thing, we will.
What role do marketing strategies play in influencing
more sustainable design?
As suggested above, marketing is a major influence
on how we consume and as such, companies must take greater heed
of the effect their marketing will have on consumer habits. Companies
need to be a little more honest about what their true green credentials
are.
SKILLS
How is sustainable design integrated into the
design syllabus? To what extent are considerations of sustainable
waste reduction part of broader industrial training courses?
We can only comment on direct experience which
seems to show that sustainability is becoming a central pillar
in current training and education.
November 2007
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