Memorandum by the Design Council
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
In the ecosystem of innovation we cannot think
about waste as something that is associated with the left-over
or end-life of a product. A more holistic approach is needed.
The role of design here should be to look at the entire life-cycle
of products and services and to identify ways of embedding sustainability
from the outset. The role of design should be to unlock innovation
and connect science and technology to the market place. As such
sustainable design should be seen as a business opportunity in
a low-carbon economy.
A key new set of design skills is needed to
address sustainability, but as yet there is little demand for
these skills in UK industry. Experience from other countries such
as Germany, Denmark and Sweden suggests that if a critical mass
of designers are equipped with knowledge about product life-cycles,
the impact of materials' choices and manufacturing processes on
product development and consumer behaviour the impact on waste
reduction would be considerable.
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.
Following some discussion of the issues, we
will set out a number of recommendations that we believe will
minimise the creation of waste. These are:
— greater support for design-led
innovation that will enable SMEs to embed sustainability in all
their products and services;
— more emphasis on sustainability
in design education as part of a nationally co-ordinated skills
programme;
— greater collaboration between
design, science, technology and business higher education institutions;
— greater emphasis on "service
design" in the development of products and services; and
— greater public engagement to
familiarise ordinary people with value of design.
1. INTRODUCTION
The Design Council welcomes this opportunity
to respond to the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee
Inquiry into waste reduction.
Design Council research shows that companies
that invest in design out-perform in practically every measure
of business performance including market share, growth, productivity,
share price and competitiveness. For example, the Design Council's
Design Index (2005) demonstrates that over a ten-year period,
design-intensive companies outperformed the FTSE by more than
200 per cent. Our studies also demonstrate the link between design
expenditure and economic performance. The Design Council's Value
of Design Factfinder (2005-06) found that for every £100
a design-alert business spends on design, turnover is increased
by £225. Yet, remarkably, 45 per cent of all UK companies
are failing to invest in design and only 16 per cent believe that
design is critical to success.
On the subject of improving economic, social
and environmental sustainability, design has the potential to
make a positive contribution, in supporting businesses to create
environmentally sound and desirable alternatives to existing services
and products and in enabling changes in patterns of materials
use, production and consumption, and in product disassembly and
recycling.
Major design-led companies like Electrolux,
Unilever and Nike are already using design to address sustainability,
and car manufacturer Toyota has advanced a sustainable automotive
design model. By investing significant resource in the design
programme behind hybrid cars like the Prius, it is building an
internal knowledge base about sustainable design that should serve
it well in this emerging market.
Our research shows that the most environmentally
aware businesses are already seeking design solutions that respond
to consumer demand for greener products, but that they are beginning
to find that UK designers don't always have the relevant expertise.
In response to this, we believe that sustainability should be
at the heart of the design curriculum.
2. THE ROLE
OF DESIGN
IN WASTE
REDUCTION
With 80 per cent of the environmental impact
of today's products, services and infrastructures being determined
at the design stage,[1]
influencing the key design decisions that designers make can bring
about extensive change in the amount of waste produced in a product
life-cycle. The EU has passed a directive, the Eco-Design of
Energy Using Products Directive (EUP), to help designers deal
with the problems of waste at the design phase. Further legislation
that reinforces these principles should be considered, though
there are many measures that designers and businesses can take
in the existing legislative framework in order to reduce the environmental
impact of their activities.
Designing to last
Companies can strive to build more durable products
to ensure they last longer. As an example, the furniture company
Vitsoe has become a market leader with a product designed to last
a lifetime. The 606 Universal Shelving System's stated aim is
to "help people live better with less that lasts longer."
Its highly flexible modularity allows owners to install and extend
their shelving easily themselves. For a nominal fee Vitsoe also
offers a service dismantling and rebuilding its system for relocations.
Also, designing product components for easy
removal and replacement encourages people to repair parts rather
than replacing the whole object when it breaks down.
The Aeron ergonomic chair shows how successful
these principles can be. It has 66 per cent recycled parts and
100 per cent of its aluminium parts are recycled, making it about
95 per cent less destructive to materials, energy, water and air.
All its plastic parts are labelled with International Standards
Organisation (ISO) recycling symbols and the chair is easy to
disassemble, with 94 per cent recyclable parts. Repair is simple
and the chair has a 10-year life-span—about double that
of an ordinary office chair. It has been a worldwide success and
has been recognised as a design classic by the Museum of Modern
Art in New York.
Add value by reducing waste
In a time of increasing energy and waste disposal
prices, product re-designs and rationalised production processes
can not only reduce environmental impacts but can also bring economic
savings. For example, American grocery retailer Walmart reduced
packaging for just one toy line and made annual savings of more
than $2.4 million, as well as saving more than 3,800 trees and
more than 1,000 barrels of oil.[2]
Retail packaging, whose function is often to increase shelf visibility,
accounts for about 20 per cent of all waste put out by households.[3]
Design to recycle and remanufacture
At the moment, when waste is reused, it is often
downgraded. Cars are routinely melted down without separating
out useful metals such as copper, meaning these become unusable
in the resulting alloy.
Xerox, as well as saving resource by making multi-functional
products that scan, copy, fax and print, also remanufacture their
old products. They estimate that this results in their products
having up to seven lives. Evidence suggests remanufacture can
be twice as profitable as manufacture, but few companies currently
use it.[4]
From products to services
Home appliance manufacturer Electrolux is experimenting
how design can transform their core business offering. In a pilot
service, they provided free washing machines to customers, enabling
customers a pay-per-use model that has worked out as more profitable
in the long term for the manufacturer. In this sense they are
selling a washing service, rather than a product, Customers are
furthermore likely to run their machines less often, thus also
bringing about a significant saving in water and energy. Since
Electrolux retains ownership of the machine, they also have greater
incentive to build it to last. The United Nations Environment
Programme claims that in addition "The company has the potential
to take a role in the end-of-life of the washing machine by remanufacturing
or recycling its materials".[5]
3. USER-CENTRED
AND SERVICE
DESIGN
Britain is at the forefront of a new "service
design" industry, and this new discipline is evolving as
a powerful new tool for both business and sustainable development.
It can use social and economic innovation to help reduce and improve
on wasteful processes and can speed up the transition to sustainability.
By putting people at the heart of the design process, it explores
new ways of carrying out familiar, every-day activities to create
personalised user-centred services.
The Design Council has recently worked with regional
development agency One North East to pilot a set of community
projects that aim to improve aspects of daily life through the
successful application of "service design" principles.
Service design case studies from this initiative included projects
that aimed to reduce home energy use in an economically deprived
part of Northumberland; and one that aimed to exploit the capacity
of cars on the road in order to reduce overall car journeys in
a remote part of the North East. We would be happy to provide
further information on these products in order to examine the
role of service design more closely.
4. RECOMMENDATIONS
Greater support for embedding sustainability within
business and business support programmes
Caught up in adapting to new conditions and
legislation, many businesses currently see environmental factors
as barriers to growth rather than opportunities for innovation.
They tend to be unaware that design can address complex strategic
issues and allow perceived lack of time or resource as a barrier
to invest in this research. Design is frequently seen as an add-on
and an expense rather than an important part of improving profitability.
However, it is also true that companies that wish to, currently
have difficulty sourcing sustainable design skills.
For instance, Designing Demand, the Design Council
design-led innovation service for SMEs, is working to embed sustainable
practice at its heart. The programme will target a total of 6,500
businesses by 2010. A mentoring scheme, as part of this programme.
is delivered by a roster of expert "design associates",
within a flexible framework, developed by the Design Council,
that allows associates to advise businesses according to their
needs. Sustainability is a cross-cutting theme and design associates
are there to help raise awareness and signpost businesses to other
resources around complex sustainability issues.
More emphasis on sustainability in design education
as part of a nationally co-ordinated skills programme
Presently, there are only a small number of
undergraduate and postgraduate design courses with sustainable
design elements and few design companies, agencies and freelances
show an active commitment to sustainability principles. However
this is by no means typical of the sector as a whole. The reality
is that most designers do not yet recognise the strategic role
they could play in tackling the problem and teaching about the
application of sustainability principles is still under-developed
in design education. Also, our research into design skills has
found that designers still do not rate sustainability as a priority,
claiming it is because their clients do not ask for it.
The UK Design Industry Skills Development Plan,
High-level skills for higher value, jointly published by
the Design Council and Creative and Cultural Skills Sector Skills
Council, recommends a "360 degree" approach to skills
development: improving the teaching and content of design courses
in schools and higher education as well as improving professional
practice and embedding sustainability element across education.
Greater support for collaboration between design,
science, technology and business HEIs
Design should play a greater role in connecting
our research base to the market place.
There is currently not enough interaction between
scientists and designers. We commend the work of organisations
like MADE (Materials and Design Exchange) was established to address
that issue. MADE is part of the Materials Knowledge Transfer Network
(KTN) supported by the Government, forging a link between designers
and other sectors of the KTN that are concerned with metals, plastics,
textiles and the full range of modern materials. The core partners
of MADE are the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3),
The Royal College of Art (RCA), the Design Council, the Institution
of Engineering Designers (IED) and the Engineering Employers Federation
(EEF South). Speedy implementation of Lord Sainsbury's Review
of Science and Innovation Policy, Race to the Top, is also needed
to ensure that there are greater connections between design, science,
technology and business in our universities.
Greater emphasis on a "service design"
approach from business
Looking at the life-cycle of products and services
requires a user-centred approach that engages all stakeholder
groups in dialogues and encourages their active participation
in the design process. However, the relatively new discipline
of service design, which allows a designer to identify the brief
through examining a situation in its entirety is still not widely
recognised by business as an effective tool for innovation.
"Shared visions act as forces of innovation.
Designers can imagine some situational condition that does not
yet exist, but describe it in such a way that it appears to be
a desirable new version of the real world".[6]
The design process here can prototype new ideas and rapidly test
them with target user groups. In each instance, service design's
strength is the capacity to rapidly and cheaply work through iterations
of solutions practically with the participation of all relevant
interest groups. This means that a service design approach can
help businesses test new ideas and propositions before they are
taken to market.
Greater public engagement to raise awareness among
the general public about the value of sustainable development
and design's role in it
There is a greater need to raise public awareness
about how design can influence consumption habits and waste impacts.
By raising awareness, consumer choice is better informed. Public
engagement programmes like Designs of the Time (Dott07) reach
a broad cross section of society, and play an important role in
developing this awareness. The Design Council will continue to
uphold a strong focus on sustainability within its Designs of
the Time programme. This should in turn result in the creation
of more consistent demand for well-designed and better performing
products and services that create less waste.
1 How to do Ecodesign: A guide for environmentally
friendly and economically sound design, German Federal Environment
Agency (ed), 2000. Back
2
www.walmartfacts.com/FactSheets/1292007_Sustainability.pdf Back
3
Defra, Waste Strategy for England, 2007. Back
4
Caspar Gray interview with Rolf Steinhilper, 2006. Back
5
United Nations Environment Programme, Product-Service Systems
and Sustainability-Opportunities for Sustainable Solutions,
updated, 2005. Back
6
John Thakara, Programme Director, Dott07. Back
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