ECODESIGN online PILOT

Avoiding waste in the production process

Improvement <- B: manufacture intensive <-

Checklist for ECODESIGN analysis

Product

Do the technologies used in the manufacture of the product provide for a minimization of waste and emissions?
  
  
Are raw materials used efficiently? Can emission limits be adhered to without downstream purification and filter plants? Does the production technology for the component correspond to best practice concerning efficient use of materials and minimization of emissions?
Relevance (R) Fulfillment (F) Priority (P)
very important ( 10 )
less important ( 5 )
not relevant ( 0 )
yes ( 1 )
rather yes ( 2 )
rather no ( 3 )
no ( 4 )

P = R * F
Measure Use low material input, low emission production technologies
Idea for
Realization
Costs
more
same
less
because
Feasibility
difficult
easy
because
Action
at once
later
never
Responsibility
Deadline


Do the technologies used in the manufacture of the product and its components prevent any risk to the environment?
  
  
What are the environmental risks through production technologies in the case of accidents? Can they be avoided by the use of alternative technologies? How can the risks be minimized? Does the technology used in the manufacture of the product correspond to best practice concerning risks to the environment?
Relevance (R) Fulfillment (F) Priority (P)
very important ( 10 )
less important ( 5 )
not relevant ( 0 )
yes ( 1 )
rather yes ( 2 )
rather no ( 3 )
no ( 4 )

P = R * F
Measure Avoid environmentally hazardous production technologies
Idea for
Realization
Costs
more
same
less
because
Feasibility
difficult
easy
because
Action
at once
later
never
Responsibility
Deadline


Does the manufacture of the product cause only relatively small quantities of waste and emissions?
  
  
What type and what quantities of waste/emissions are there? Where, in the production process are they generated? Which of these constitute a major problem at disposal? Have all measures been taken (alternative production technologies, closing materials cycles...) to avoid waste and emissions?
Relevance (R) Fulfillment (F) Priority (P)
very important ( 10 )
less important ( 5 )
not relevant ( 0 )
yes ( 1 )
rather yes ( 2 )
rather no ( 3 )
no ( 4 )

P = R * F
Measure Avoid waste and emissions in the production process
Idea for
Realization
Costs
more
same
less
because
Feasibility
difficult
easy
because
Action
at once
later
never
Responsibility
Deadline


Are waste materials from the manufacture of the product and its components returned to the production process?
  
  
What waste materials may be re-used or recycled? What measures could be taken to close materials cycles (waste separation, use of alternative materials...)?
Relevance (R) Fulfillment (F) Priority (P)
very important ( 10 )
less important ( 5 )
not relevant ( 0 )
yes ( 1 )
rather yes ( 2 )
rather no ( 3 )
no ( 4 )

P = R * F
Measure Close material cycles in the production process
Idea for
Realization
Costs
more
same
less
because
Feasibility
difficult
easy
because
Action
at once
later
never
Responsibility
Deadline


Are waste materials from the manufacture of the product and its components re-used in new products in order to reduce the overall amount of waste generated?
  
  
What process waste may be considered for re-use/recycling? What measures would promote re-use/recycling of process waste (waste separation, use of alternative materials...)?
Relevance (R) Fulfillment (F) Priority (P)
very important ( 10 )
less important ( 5 )
not relevant ( 0 )
yes ( 1 )
rather yes ( 2 )
rather no ( 3 )
no ( 4 )

P = R * F
Measure Recycle/reuse waste for new materials
Idea for
Realization
Costs
more
same
less
because
Feasibility
difficult
easy
because
Action
at once
later
never
Responsibility
Deadline


Are process waste and, in particular, hazardous substances caused by the manufacture of the product and its components disposed of in an environmentally acceptable manner?
  
  
What type of unavoidable process waste is generated in the manufacture of the product, what quantities? How are they disposed of? What is the environmental impact at disposal? How can it be minimized?
Relevance (R) Fulfillment (F) Priority (P)
very important ( 10 )
less important ( 5 )
not relevant ( 0 )
yes ( 1 )
rather yes ( 2 )
rather no ( 3 )
no ( 4 )

P = R * F
Measure Dispose of unavoidable waste in an environmentally acceptable manner
Idea for
Realization
Costs
more
same
less
because
Feasibility
difficult
easy
because
Action
at once
later
never
Responsibility
Deadline


Is waste from the manufacture of the product and its components sorted and separated?
  
  
Is it possible to sort and separate waste from the production process, and is this really done? What measures could be taken to provide for efficient sorting and separation of waste? Is there a market for this separated waste?
Relevance (R) Fulfillment (F) Priority (P)
very important ( 10 )
less important ( 5 )
not relevant ( 0 )
yes ( 1 )
rather yes ( 2 )
rather no ( 3 )
no ( 4 )

P = R * F
Measure Waste sorting/separation whenever possible
Idea for
Realization
Costs
more
same
less
because
Feasibility
difficult
easy
because
Action
at once
later
never
Responsibility
Deadline


Are reject rates in the manufacture of the product and its components relatively low?
  
  
At what stages of the production process do rejects occur? What quantities? What are the most common causes for rejects? How can they be avoided?
Relevance (R) Fulfillment (F) Priority (P)
very important ( 10 )
less important ( 5 )
not relevant ( 0 )
yes ( 1 )
rather yes ( 2 )
rather no ( 3 )
no ( 4 )

P = R * F
Measure Reduce fraction of rejects in production process
Idea for
Realization
Costs
more
same
less
because
Feasibility
difficult
easy
because
Action
at once
later
never
Responsibility
Deadline



Approach to assessment:
  1. Relevance:
    Rate the relevance of the assessment question with a view to your product. (10...very important for my product; 5...less important for my product; 0...not relevant for my product).
  2. Fullfilment:
    Estimate the fulfilment of the assessment questions using one of the four possible answers (yes / rather yes / rather no / no); the additional questions support understanding of the assessment question and need not be answered.
  3. Priority:
    Select ECODESIGN tasks with high priority (P) and continue only with these.
  4. Idea for Realization:
    Find ideas to realize these ECODESIGN tasks. The content of the learning part with its examples shall assist you in doing that.
  5. Feasibility:
    Evaluate the feasibility of the suggested ideas (difficult / easy).
  6. Costs:
    Compare the costs of the new ideas with a reference situation (higher / same / lower) and give reason for that.
  7. Action:
    Decide when to carry out the ECODESIGN tasks (at once / later / never) and determine the person or department that shall be in charge of further steps in the realizing the product improvements and fix a deadline.
  8. Save:
    Save the checklist to document the ECODESIGN assessment.

 

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Use low material input, low emission production technologies

Efficient use of materials, process and auxiliary materials by applying adequate technologies (best practice) reduces the overall consumption of raw materials. This, in turn, reduces damage to the environment through waste, on the one hand, and reduces the quantity of raw materials extracted from the environment, on the other. Low emission production technologies reduce the need for downstream purification and filter plants. In addition, the amount of usually toxic residues from purification and filtering will be reduced.


Avoid environmentally hazardous production technologies

Irrespective of the energy consumption and emissions during normal operation certain technologies constitute a high environmental risk and may cause considerable environmental damage in the case of accidents. This also includes risks through the use of toxic auxiliary and process materials.


Avoid waste and emissions in the production process

The goal of each production process consists in the transformation of raw materials into products. Thus, process waste may be considered an indicator for inefficient use of materials. Apart from the environmental impact caused by the disposal of waste the consumption of raw materials extracted from the environment has to be taken into account. In many cases, the procurement of raw materials that are transformed into waste in inefficient production processes, is a decisive cost factor. Avoiding this type of waste not only reduces the cost of disposal but also purchase costs for raw materials.


Close material cycles in the production process

An important strategy of waste prevention and cost reduction consists in closing materials cycles in the production process. Recycling waste materials and returning them into the production process reduces consumption of primary raw materials as well as the cost of waste disposal. In addition, there is less transportation than for external recycling or disposal. One of the prerequisites consists in the use of recyclable materials and in collecting and sorting of process waste.


Recycle/reuse waste for new materials

In many cases it will not be possible to avoid process waste altogether or to return these materials in the production process. It should be considered to re-use/recycle them for the manufacture of new products. However, in this context one has to ensure that the manufacture of these new products does not generate waste even more hazardous than the original material, which would counteract the intended beneficial effect to the environment


Dispose of unavoidable waste in an environmentally acceptable manner

In spite of all efforts an altogether waste-free production can be realized only in rare cases. This unavoidable waste has to be disposed of in such a way as to ensure that the environmental impact is kept to a minimum. One possible way consists in waste separation and subsequent specific re-use or disposal of materials. In this context, careful handling of hazardous substances is particularly important. Another approach focuses on the input aspect and aims at actively controlling the composition of waste materials by selecting appropriate materials, auxiliary and process materials.


Waste sorting/separation whenever possible

Sorting and separating process waste constitutes an essential prerequisite for, both, in-house or external recycling and re-using of materials as well as for specific treatment of different types of waste. In some cases, separation for classes of waste may be sufficient. In order to achieve this goal it often suffices to rearrange the sequence of individual production stages. For example, cutting to size structural parts consisting of different materials before they are glued together avoids composite material waste, which can be separated only at great expense.


Reduce fraction of rejects in production process

Minimizing the reject rate is an important goal if only with a view to cost reduction, and it is also a key factor in quality management and quality assurance. Rejects could be defined as product without any direct benefit attributable to the input of resources used up in the manufacture of the product; this means that resource efficiency is absolutely zero. If consumption of resources is set off against the other products the overall resource efficiency decreases with the reject rate. A further problem of rejects, especially if they are rejected at a late stage in the production process, consists in the fact that the components have to be disassembled before they can be recycled on the production site.