Supported by a 97,947 grant from Biffaward, the project is being undertaken by the Designing for Sustainability research group at Kingston University in London with consultants Business Eco Network.
The first part of the project involves a questionnaire being sent electronically to more than 30,000 designers and architects to find out their current material specification policies. The questionnaire can be seen at the project's website: recyclingbydesign.
Mike Harris, chairman of Business Eco Network, who recently launched the project, said: “Research into how recycled materials can become part of mainstream material specifying is vital to encourage the sustainable use of natural resources. The Landfill
Tax Credit Scheme encourages research that will lead to a significant reduction in waste going to landfill, which is exactly what we aim to achieve with this project by tackling waste at the outset – through the design process.”
The project has won recognition from WRAP, the Waste and Resources Action Programme. Speaking at the launch, WRAP's environment manager Peter Bulleid said that designers “can assist us in achieving more use of resources.” He explained that there is a “need not to see recycled products as substitutes but as things worth buying for their own intrinsic quality. And, we need new products, not just substituted existing products – what we need is new uses, new customers, a new image and new attitudes.”
The launch also saw support coming from the retailer Body Shop International. Paul Porral, the retailer's director of global design, emphasised how companies had to assess the balance between consumer demand and meeting environmental demands. He cited the example of pumps with metal components being added to bottles because of consumer demand. Yet these made the product more difficult for recycling.
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