introduction to systems for material sustainability (how to recycle everything)

RecycleEVERYTHING?

Here’s how…

Can we really

Yes, we can.

Once a thing can be imagined, it can be engineered.

— Janet Unruh

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Contents

• The Linear Production-consumption System

• Systems for Material Sustainability

• The Challenges

• The Institute and Its Goals

• Contact Us

In this brief slideshow, we’re going to look at a plan for recycling everything that’s made by us human beings.

Let’s start by looking at our current linear production-consumption system.

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The Linear Production-Consumption System

This is the linear production-consumption system that we have in the world today.

This system, although it provides a good lifestyle for some, consumes resources and produces garbage. There is no incentive to conserve.

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Landfills Are Growing

Most people are aware of growing landfills, garbage dumps and islands of trash in the oceans …

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Resources are Being Depleted

But resource depletion is becoming a greater threat to the continued production of all the things we consume.

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Linear Systems Are Unsustainable

Essentially, this linear system is not sustainable in the long term. A sustainable system must be cyclical, self-contained and self-perpetuating.

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Eliminate Extraction and Disposal

The main thing we must do is eliminate the extraction (of inorganic materials) and disposal from the system.

x xThis may sound a little crazy at first, but we’re eventually going to have to do it—if we want to continue to produce and consume. We believe it is possible. We’re going to show you how.

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Then we take the remaining roles and connect them in a circle.

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• The Linear Production-consumption System

• Systems for Material Sustainability

• The Challenges

• The Institute and Its Goals

• Contact Us

Next we’re going to see a few examples of systems for material sustainability.

There are two main kinds of systems, one for inorganic materials (metals, minerals and plastics) and one for organic (agriculture, etc.)

The chief difference is that organic materials are composted to provide soil nutrition.

Let’s take a look…

Systems for Material Sustainability

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This is a generic version of a system for material sustainability.

The materials that make up all the things that we produce and consume are contained within this system.

Note that extraction and disposal are eliminated.

New, Sustainable Systems

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Inorganic Materials System

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This version of the system applies to things such as appliances, some furniture, electronics, vehicles, and buildings.

These kinds of materials must be engineered to be 100% recyclable.

Things such as these are made of inorganic materials— metals, minerals, plastics and industrial and household chemicals.

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Two Important Roles

Let’s look at two of these roles: the disassembler and the materials processor.

These two roles exist now but they will be greatly expanded in the new system.

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Disassembler

The disassembler is a factory for taking things apart.

First, the plans for assembling and disassembling products are developed by the producer.

The producer collaborates with the disassembler to design the disassembly factory and select equipment.

It may even be possible to use the same factory for assembly and disassembly.

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Reuse, Repair or Reprocess

The disassembler uses a computerized system to automatically route products to the correct equipment to be disassembled.

The disassembler then sorts the parts into three types: reuse as is, repair and reprocess.

Parts that can be reused (after repair) are sent back to the producer.

Parts that can’t be reused are sent to the materials processor.

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Materials Processor

The materials processor is a facility that reprocesses unusable parts into stock.

These parts are transformed by various means (e.g., melting down) and made ready for use in new parts and products.

Here again, the plans for (re-) processing materials must be developed by the producer, who then collaborates with the materials processor to design the facility and select equipment.

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Organic (Biological) Systems

Naturally, some products are organic, meaning that their source is biological.

Organic raw material producers are farms, logging and fishing operations, orchards, vineyards, meat and dairy producers.

Things like wooden furniture, natural fiber cloth and food waste are routed to compost and then to fields and forests to provide nutrients to new crops.

Let’s look at an example of a sustainable system for a product that uses both organic and inorganic materials: blue jeans…

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Organic and Inorganic Products

In this system, the product, blue jeans, is made of cotton and metal (snaps and zippers).

Since clothing may pass through several hands, the consumer is responsible to turn in items that are no longer usable.

The cloth is shredded and used in agriculture and the metal returns to the producer.

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Organic-only Products

If the product (e.g., blue jeans) was made completely of organic materials like natural fiber cloth, wood, bone or even biodegradable plastic, it could go from the consumer directly to the materials processor.

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More Information on Systems

These systems are explained in depth in the book, Recycle Everything—Why We Must, How We Can.

This book is available on Amazon and other online booksellers.

View the first third of the book in Google Books.

Let’s move on to the challenges…

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• The Linear Production-consumption System

• Systems for Material Sustainability

• The Challenges

• The Institute and Its Goals

• Contact Us

Naturally, there’s a lot more to making sustainable systems successful. Let’s look at a few of the challenges…

The Challenges

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Materials, Products, Costs, Experts and Mindset

• Materials must be engineered to be recycled and reused. Material processing plants must also be designed, equipment created and processes defined.

• Products have to be designed to be disassembled easily and cost-effectively. Disassembly factories must be designed, equipment created and processes defined.

• The entire system must be optimized to be cost-effective. Some of the roles may be combined (disassembler, used-parts broker, materials processor, producer-assembler) to reduce floor space, equipment needs and transportation costs.

• For this effort to be a success, we’ll need a lot of help from experts in various fields.

• Everyone needs to adopt a new mindset of borrowing products (leasing, to be exact) rather than owning them.

These are some of the challenges that we face in implementing systems for material sustainability:

The Institute for Material Sustainability (i4ms) is working toward these changes…

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• The Linear Production-consumption System

• Systems for Material Sustainability

• The Challenges

• The Institute and Its Goals

• Contact Us

Now we’re going to look at the Institute for Material Sustainability and its plans for making these systems a reality.

The Institute and Its Goals

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The Four Goals

The institute plans to accomplish four main goals:

• Develop 100% recyclable materials for industry

• Design products using these new materials and new processes for material recovery

• Construct working models of systems for material sustainability

• Establish a consulting agency to work with industry to co-develop and implement these systems

Let’s look at each of these briefly…

The mission of the Institute for Material Sustainability is to help industries make the transition to systems for material sustainability (s4ms).

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Develop 100% Recyclable Materials

First, we need materials that are 100% recyclable.

We plan to solicit materials engineers worldwide to develop these materials through R&D challenges and prizes.

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Prize for Innovation 22

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R&D Challenges

Here’s an example of a product with several challenges to be solved by materials engineers. First these materials have to be created, then the product can be designed.

Challenge #1: Rigid plastic.Requirements:

• Non-toxic, no leaching• 100% recyclable• Washable• Durable

Challenge #2: Glass.Requirements:

• Tempered• 100% recyclable

Challenge #3: Steel.Requirements:

• Stainless• 100% recyclable

Additional challenges:

Requirements:• 100% recyclable

• Heating element• Electronic controls

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Design Products for Recycling

• Factories and equipment must be designed for disassembly

• Processes must be optimized and documented

• All joins between parts must be reversible

• Parts must be designed to be recoverable and reusable

• Parts must be designed to have separable materials (for material reprocessing)

• Disassembly and reuse must be made cost-effective

Product designers and manufacturing engineers work together to design a product that is easy to assemble. Now they must also design the product to be easy to disassemble. Here are some of the things to consider:

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Working Models of Systems

We intend to run ‘full system tests’ using working models of systems. To do this, we need:

• Key success factors (success criteria)• Materials• Engineering designs• Parts• Assembly plans and processes• Assembly facilities• Disassembly plans and processes• Disassembly facilities• Materials processing plans and processes• Materials processing facilities• Parts creation facilities• Experts in process optimization (lean manufacturing)• Personnel

Let’s take a quick look at the test model…

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Alpha and Beta Tests

Materials Processorreprocesses materials into stock for new parts

New-Parts Suppliercreates parts needed for products

Producerassembles parts into finished products

Disassemblerdisassembles product s into parts, sends usable parts to producer; non-usable parts to materials processor

Testingtests products and documents any issues

Start: System test team provides materials and parts designs to new parts suppliers

New parts

New products

Used products

Reusable parts

Unusable parts

Reprocessed materials

Here is an example of an alpha test for a 100% recyclable product. The distributor/collector and consumer would be added in the beta test.

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Consulting, Collaborating with Industry

After the Institute has developed a knowledge base, its experts will establish a consulting agency to work with industry to co-develop and implement these systems.

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There’s Much More Detail in the Book

The book, Recycle Everything—Why We Must, How We Can explains everything we discussed in this presentation in much more detail. The book puts these concepts within the reach of managers and enables them to apply the concepts in their organizations and supply chains.

Please look for the book on Amazon.com and other online booksellers.

Let’s work together to make the concept of recycling everything a reality…

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• The Linear Production-consumption System

• Systems for Material Sustainability

• The Challenges

• The Institute and Its Goals

• Contact Us

We’re looking for people to support the work, discuss the ideas and provide expertise in several areas.

Contact Us

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• Materials engineering

• Computer simulations

• Systems optimization

• Requirements engineering

• Lean manufacturing

• Product design

Let’s Collaborate

We are looking for people who are experts in…

Please contact us if you can help.

• Process design

• Assembly and disassembly

• Equipment and facilities design

• Finance

• Business consulting

• Website design

• Funding

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Help Us Spread the Word

We need popular support to spread the word that it’s possible to recycle everything! Here are some things you can do to help:

• Buy the book, read it, recommend it to others (buy it on Amazon)

• Share the website with others (www.rebk.org)

• Share this presentation with others

• Like and share our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/recycle.everything)

• Tell others!

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More About Us

Contact us here…

Email: janet.unruh@i4ms.org

Check out…

www.rebk.org

www.facebook.com/recycle.everything

www.slideshare.net/i4ms (this presentation is available here)

We look forward to hearing from you.

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