Buy. Use. Trash. Repeat. This is how product design has traditionally worked over the last 50 years. It’s known as the ‘linear consumption model’, and it’s the root cause of so many environmental issues we’re facing today. As a B-Corp, we aim to go above and beyond to help our clients design for obsolescence end of life by creating products that can be reused, repurposed or recycled.

Article 13 of EU and UK product legislation aims to jump-start the transition to a circular economy and combat the unsustainable strategy of ‘planned obsolescence’. Here’s how this legislation will affect product design and what opportunities we have to break the linear consumption model and welcome a new era of sustainable design.

What is planned obsolescence?

If you’ve bought a new phone in the past 3 years, you’ve probably been affected by planned obsolescence. Whether the battery started dying faster, the phone was running slower or a component was damaged, chances are you opted for a new phone instead of attempting to fix the problems with the old model.

This has very little to do with consumers and a lot more to do with design. If it costs more to replace the faulty or broken part than it does to buy a new one - assuming you can even find the parts you need - you’re unlikely to bother.

This process is known as planned obsolescence and it is a deliberate strategy to ensure that a product becomes useless or outdated within a set time period. Designed to boost demand, it is a calculated design choice that is having a severe impact on the environment. It means we’re throwing away a lot of stuff that should have been repaired and recycled. 

At Bang Creations, our focus has always been on designing products that can be easily repaired and that remain usable for as long as possible. We’ve been ahead of the curve on sustainable design and we’re pleased to see the EU and UK recognising the importance of sustainable product design in Article 13. 

What is Article 13 and how does it help?

Article 13 — Substantial contribution to the transition to a circular economy https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eur/2020/852/article/13 proposes product design regulations that will push more companies towards participating in the circular economy. The framework covers everything from ensuring electronic goods use a universal USB-C port for charging to mandating the use of recycled materials in clothing and electronics. 

The EU Commission estimates that the new regulations could save around 150 billion cubic metres of natural gas in total. It’s definitely a step in the right direction. But we want to go further. 

Beyond Article 13: 5 opportunities for sustainable product design

1. The right to repair

A growing right to repair movement in the UK promises to improve product design by making repairs safer, more affordable, and more feasible for ordinary people to do at home. But when considering sustainable product design, there are some key considerations that businesses will have to address: 

• Safety is paramount: Products need to be designed in a way that passes international safety standards, including eliminating the risk of untrained people coming into contact with potentially hazardous materials or components.

• It can cost more: Selecting materials that can be interchangeable and modular can increase the material cost and the complexity of the product’s design, reducing the incentives for businesses to pursue the design.

• It’s a long term commitment: In order to ensure a longer life cycle for a product, the manufacturers need to supply replacement parts for many years, incurring extra costs in storage and manufacture, as well as the environmental impact of shipping and delivery.

• Ease: The product needs to be easy to repair using ordinary household tools rather than professional equipment. There should be clear instructions or diagrams available for from the manufacturer to help people repair their own products safely.

As it stands, the right to repair movement faces significant challenges. Many products still include designs that can only be accessed and repaired by trained technicians with specialist tools, limiting the scope of the movement.

At Bang Creations, we’re working to design products that can be easily repaired to keep the product in use as long as possible, while creating a solution that makes sense for both businesses and consumers.

2. Design for end of life

All good things come to an end. At Bang Creations, we plan for the end of a product’s life from the outset to minimise the environmental impact and maximise the potential for components to be reused, recycled and reimagined.

Here are some of the opportunities that design for end of life can offer:

• Reusable waste products: Where possible, the ‘waste’ materials and component parts of a product can be directly recycled or remanufactured into a new product. We plan for this eventuality wherever possible by using commonly recycled materials and adding easily identifiable marks for sorting them. We also limit the use of finishes and adhesives - as these make recycling more difficult - and prioritise lighter coloured materials as these are in higher demand during recycling.

• Design for disassembly: At the end of a product’s life, the component parts and materials need to be taken apart easily so they can be separately processed and recycled. Design for disassembly factors in how the consumer will properly dispose of a product, including avoiding the use of tough glues and permanent fixings, labelling the components for easy identification, and making disassembly quick and easy without the need for specialist tools. 

• Responsible disposal: When products do need to be disposed of, it is important that it is done responsibly and with sustainability in mind. During the design phase, we calculate the most environmentally-efficient way to dispose of each material, whether that’s composting, incineration or landfill. Wherever possible we select materials that minimise the release of toxic by-products as they break down.

By thinking ahead, designers and businesses have the opportunity to minimise the environmental impact of their products at the end of their life and help consumers take responsible action when it comes to disposal.

3. Products as a service 

Moving beyond the idea of product ownership, there is also the opportunity for more companies to embrace design for products as a service. This comes with a wide range of benefits, including:

• Longer lasting products that can be reused by many people for many years. This can drastically reduce the environmental impact.

• Products that are higher quality can still be affordable to mainstream consumers as they are leased rather than sold.

• Less waste and turnover for products that are only needed for a short time or periodically, such as certain tools, baby products and seasonal products.

• Can create a strong company-customer relationship built on loyalty and trust

• More control over disposal at the product’s end of life as they pass back through the company that created them. Parts can even be remade or recycled directly in the factory.

While products as a service businesses are currently rare in the UK, this design niche has significant potential to reduce waste, limit the environmental impact and benefit consumers thanks to higher quality, more affordable products.

4. Aesthetic and technological longevity

As well as focusing on sustainability in any product’s components and disposal, there is also the question of design and aesthetic longevity. To encourage consumers to buy and keep a product, it has to look and feel good long after they buy it. 

Like a leather bag that gets better with age, the challenge is designing technologically advanced products that have a timeless aesthetic and enduring technical capabilities that mean consumers don’t need or want to replace them every year. 

There is also an imperative need to factor in the environmental impact of ageing products. For example, replacing ageing technology like cars and appliances can, in some cases, be more environmentally efficient by improving energy efficiency, water consumption and more.

5. Making design make sense

To make sustainable design feasible on a global scale, there has to be a level of common sense involved. Designers need to be realistic about the impact of any repair or maintenance process and the environmental cost of making a product more durable or long-lasting. For example, if the environmental cost of recycling something outweighs that of disposing of it, we need to be clear about the implications across the entire product life cycle. 

Sustainable design involves looking at every step of every process to ensure that products have a meaningful and positive impact on the environment and on the consumers who use them.

Investing in design beyond planned obsolescence

Article 13 sets the UK and Europe on the right course towards sustainable, forward-thinking product design, but there’s still much more we can do now and in the future. 

At Bang Creations, we’re working with brands to design beyond short-term planned obsolescence to create innovative products that optimise design for repair, recycling and reuse, driving the move to a circular economy one product at a time. 

Want to know more? Take a look at our portfolio and get in touch.

To join our next workshop on sustainable design and designing for the circular economy, book your ticket

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