Dematerialisation-some implications on product design

A sustainable society must meet the requirements for improved wealth as well as for closed material loops and minimised environmental impact. In new product development, functional requirements, economy and environmental considerations have to be balanced. Environmental adaptation means also a longer time scale, the entire product life cycle must be considered during design. Dematerialisation means that virtually all environmental impact could be considered dependent on direct and indirect mass flows. The total flow of materials in the eco-cycle must then be reduced, in relation to the service produced. Radical changes, often expressed by the "factor 10" will be required. This is the real challenge in engineering. In this paper, environmental and utility indicators that could be used by designers are discussed. It is shown, that the dematerialisation concept has much in common with life cycle sssessment (LCA).