Design vs. waste

During the first phase of The Great Recovery project, groups of designers visiting waste and recovery sites were struck by what became known as The Fear, The Farce and The Challenge. Initially gripped by horror at seeing products mangled and discarded on the rubbish heap that less than a year before they themselves had spent months designing, the designers next became bemused at the absurdity of a system that allowed vast quantities of the Earths resources, energy and money to be pumped into the creation of whimsical items sold to satisfy the ping of the corporate cash register – and then promptly dumped into holes in the ground once the fascination wore off.

The challenge came as they anticipated the enormity of the problem that necessitated the rethink and redesign of most of our everyday stuff in order for it to play a useful rather than wasteful part in a world of growing populations and limited resources. Many designers, indeed, admitted to agonising over the products aesthetics, usability and price points but never giving a thought to their longevity or re-usability after purchase.

Lifecycle

It is this connection between initial design and so-called end of life that The Great Recovery is so keen to build on in its second phase, due to be launched at the Resource show in London on March 4 – 6. Of course, matter is neither created nor destroyed, and products never actually come alive. But in order to change from one state to another (e.g. from material to product and back again), significant quantities of energy are required. By getting designers to think about the materials in a product after the products first useful life, and to design accordingly, that energy requirement can be vastly lessened and, by default, so too can the products environmental cost.

If designers can work with waste managers and material recovery facilities to look again at the products on the rubbish heap, taking them apart to see why they are not currently re-usable or re-manufacturable or longer lasting, then perhaps at some point in the future the stuff around us can be valued as the precious planetary resource it really is, and kept in use for far longer.

his next phase of The Great Recovery will bring together designers, materials experts and waste specialists to tackle the issues from different angles, combining creativity, science and practicality to revolutionise the way in which we manufacture and interact with our products and systems. Once again supported by the Technology Strategy Board, the project will convene investigations that focus on challenges in particular sectors or supply chains, and will be collaborating with the Royal Society of Artss new [RE]Make programme exploring innovative and disruptive models of manufacturing.

The Great Recovery also plans to develop short-term immersive design residencies inside recovery facilities in the UK, so that designers can experience the complexity of recovery operations at first hand and help to inform new thinking around waste streams and product design. If you are interested in hosting a design residency, coming to a workshop or joining our network, wed love to hear from you.