Sustainable materials and waste reduction

Introduction

Product design is one of the most important tools to bring about changes in society and in the world. When designing a product, it is necessary to consider all the aspects of the object that will subsequently affect the user, society and even the planet, in the short and long term.

Therefore, one of the most important decisions in the design process is the correct choice of materials to be used, since they not only influence the aesthetics and functionality of the product, but also many other aspects. Some of these are: the traceability of the raw material, the manufacturing method that will be necessary, the obtaining of resources, the waste that will be generated during production, the extra components to be used, the interaction of the user with the product, the environmental impact of the process and, finally, the management of the product as waste.

Regarding management, if it is a sustainable material that is recyclable, biodegradable or, at least, reusable, the environmental impact of the product as waste will be low or even zero due to the high treatment costs. On the contrary, if it is a polluting and non-recyclable material, it is most likely that it will end up remaining in the ecosystem for hundreds of years, contaminating everything in its path. Unfortunately, in these cases, the treatment of the waste is practically nil, due to the high cost that would be involved in destroying it and, therefore, it is decided to throw the remains into the sea or transport them from one country to another, which does not solve the problem, but rather aggravates it, as Greenpeace states:

[...] it is not possible to recycle plastics that are mixed with other materials such as glue, aluminum, or resins, because it is very difficult to separate them, [...] at the end of the day, it is expensive, inefficient, and highly polluting. These restrictions, together with the absence of a culture of caring for the planet, mean that 90% of the plastics that exist in the world today have never undergone a recycling process. And where does the plastic that is not recycled go? A large percentage goes into our oceans; that is, the habitat and the organism of the 100,000 marine mammals that die each year due to this pollution. It also goes, in the form of polluting particles, into our air since many plastics that cannot be recycled are incinerated. (Greenpeace Mexico, 2019).

One of the biggest current problems that society must face is that of the large garbage dumps and the excessive amount of waste that is generated per inhabitant. This is confirmed by the National Institute of Statistics in the following quote:

“Urban waste management companies collected 22.5 million tons of waste, 2.9% more than in 2016. In 2017, 483.9 kilograms of urban waste per inhabitant were collected, 2.7% more than in past year." (INE, 2019)

These residues can be divided into organic and inorganic. This last group is the most worrying, since the main drawback is that some of them, like plastics, cannot be reintegrated into the life cycle of the planet.

Currently, we can find microplastics in practically every ecosystem or environment and this is a great inconvenience, since they not only pollute the environment, but are harmful to human health and are responsible for the death of thousands of animals and humans every day. As indicated by the newspaper El Mundo and the company Acciona in the following quote:

“Around the 9.5 million tons of plastic that are thrown into the oceans each year, between 15 and 31% are microplastics, according to data from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). […]

Recent studies have shown that petroleum products, which pollute nature and the environment, are in dozens of foods that we consume daily. A study by the University of Alicante has identified traces of plastics in the table salt that reaches consumers and a report by the Organization of Consumers and Users (OCU) found a notable presence of these polymers in 69 of the 102 foods on the market. marine origin analyzed in this study. All of them present in a varied diet in Spain.” (The World 2018)

The cause of this is the high consumption and production of goods made from oil or other artificial raw materials such as synthetic fabrics. The problem with plastic materials lies not only in the pollution they cause once they are manufactured, but also in the fact that they come from non-renewable raw materials, a resource that will run out at some point.

It seeks to solve the problem from its origin, from the moment the designer begins the process of ideation and selection of the material, until the end of the object's life and how it remains in the environment. In this way, more and more products can be integrated into the life cycle of nature.

Therefore, the main objective of this research is to propose innovative, natural, and sustainable materials that can be applied in product design, to facilitate the treatment of products as waste and thus reduce the accumulation of garbage on the planet. These materials are presented as substitutes for other less sustainable ones, such as plastic, wood, and other pollutants. If these materials were implemented on a large scale in frequently consumed products, the amount of long-term waste, which remains for periods of more than ten years, would be significantly reduced.

The objectives of this article are:

* Identify sustainable and natural materials that help reduce pollution.

* Demonstrate how these materials can substitute other more common and harmful ones.

Methodology

The main methodology used in this article is the bibliographic review where the state of the art is studied and analyzed in relation to the creation of new sustainable materials that can replace other types of more polluting materials that are used today. From this bibliographic review, a comparative study is established where different materials are contrasted that allow establishing a classification between natural materials and those that come from waste recycling.

To conclude, an analysis is carried out that allows us to affirm whether the sustainable examples could be considered substitutes for less sustainable materials to contribute to the reduction of garbage on the planet.

Results

Next, two types of materials that contribute to the reduction of pollution by waste and residue on the planet and that can be implemented in product design will be analyzed. These two types are: materials made from recycled waste and natural biodegradable materials.

Both the materials of the first group and those of the second are examples that could be substitutes for current materials such as plastic, wood, some polymers, fabrics, etc.

Materials made from waste

These materials come from the recycling of waste from different industries or from garbage that can be found in common environments such as garbage dumps in developing countries. In general, they come from municipal solid waste (RSU) that are not toxic. The definition of urban solid waste is developed by the biologist Javier Sánchez (2020).

The term urban solid waste is used to refer to those that are produced specifically within urban centers and their areas of influence. This waste is usually produced in private homes (houses, apartments, etc.), offices or shops.

[…] can be classified into two large groups, hazardous and non-hazardous solid waste. […] non-hazardous waste […], can be subdivided into:

Ordinary: this waste is generated during the daily routine in homes, schools, offices, or hospitals.

Biodegradable: these residues are characterized by being able to disintegrate or degrade quickly, turning into another type of organic matter. Examples of this type of waste are food scraps, fruits, and vegetables. […]

Inert: […] do not break down easily in nature but take a long time to break down. Among this waste we find cardboard or some types of recyclable paper: this waste can be subjected to processes that allow it to be used again. Among these we find glass, fabrics, some kinds of plastics or paper. (Sanchez, 2020)

Among the examples of materials that will be presented below, there are examples of materials with a variety of raw materials to exemplify the different types of sources that can be used. Among them, there is wood, newspaper, construction debris such as glass and ceramics.

"The well-proven chair"

This example of design from recycling (see Fig.1) provides a very interesting solution, since this foam, when solidified, has remarkable properties such as robustness, durability, and solidity. Currently, this material is not commercialized on a large scale or used for mass production of common products, but it is already known worldwide. Probably, it will begin to be implemented in various products soon since it has very beneficial qualities and if so, the environmental impact it would cause would be totally positive, due to the use of resources and the implementation of sustainability in a number each time. largest consumer items.

“The “Well proven chair” is made up of remains of wood chips and bioresins. When these two are combined, a natural chemical reaction occurs causing a foam that subsequently solidifies.” (Franklin and Till, 2019, p. 24)

Figure 1, The well proven chair, “The well proven chair”. Source “Designboom.com”

This chair was developed with the support of the American Hardwood Export Council and was one of the first pieces of furniture to undergo Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), (a process that measures the total environmental impact of a product throughout its production and use). The Well Proven chair was nominated for the 2013 Design of the Year award.

Waste based bricks

Like the previous one, it is a material made from waste. In a single piece, more than three types of components are combined that, otherwise, would have ended up in a landfill or polluting natural areas.

“Bricks are produced using local building material waste, including discarded clay, glass, ceramics and insulation materials.” (Franklin and Till, 2019, p. 29)

Motivated by the fact that construction accounts for a third of the waste generated in the European Union, […] Around 15,000 kg of waste was reused to produce different variants of the WasteBasedBrick in August 2016 to build a three-story building with terrace […] (Franklin and Till, 2019, p. 28)

These bricks meet the basic characteristics that define a good brick. They are made of cheap materials, easy to handle, work and mold. They can also be transported and marketed at an affordable price.

Regarding the mechanical properties as a material, they have a compressive strength greater than 3.5 N/mm2, the average value of a common brick. The breaking force is 13N/mm2, higher than the common clay brick. And finally, it is a material with low thermal conductivity, which makes it totally suitable for construction.

Figure 2, Waste based bricks, “Bricks based on waste. Source “stoneycycling.com”

Although these bricks are mainly made for the construction of buildings, the material can also be applied to the design of smaller-scale products, such as interior or exterior furniture. In this case, it is presented in brick format, but the same mixture can be used in other molds, such as pots, fountains, benches, etc.

If it were decided to use it more frequently for this type of product, waste such as crystals, fiberglass or ceramics would be considerably reduced, since they would be given a second useful life as raw material.

Being a material made up of different types of waste, not all of which are of natural origin, it is not easy to recycle, nor will it biodegrade easily, but it still contributes to the reduction of long-term waste.

Newspaper Wood

Newspaper is a material that usually comes from previously recycled paper, hence the greyish color. If this characteristic of being recycled is valued, it would be considered a sustainable material, since it is recyclable and reusable. However, it has a major drawback due to the type of ink it uses, since printing ink is quite toxic for people, the environment, and the recycling process. For this reason, newspapers are only reused to make more newspapers or, in some cases, for home crafts, but this cycle is not infinite. The process of discoloration and ink washing requires many liters of water and, therefore, it is not a very sustainable and ecological system, even if it is recycled.

Meijer's idea of ​​turning paper into wood instead of wood into paper. She glued the sheets of newsprint together before rolling them to create a dense cylinder that, when cut, simulates the grain of the wood.  The reused material can be later treated as wood to make furniture and surfaces. (Franklin and Till, 2019, p. 34)

Figure 3, NewspaperWood,” Newspaper Wood”. Font “newspaperwood”

Meijer chose to use the paper to make “wooden” blocks without having to apply any treatment to the newspaper. He also used natural resins to glue the sheets together, as this way, at some point, the product could completely biodegrade, becoming part of the ecosystem again.

It is a very versatile and polyvalent material since it can be treated in the same way as wood; He would even be able to almost replace her completely in terms of qualities and characteristics. Once again, this is a material that brings together tons and tons of waste; in this case, newspapers, which, had they not been used for this, would probably have been incinerated or could have remained contaminating the soil with their biodegradation for periods of more than years.

Raw Edges

The fashion industry is one of the least sustainable on the planet. It has a great negative impact on the environment since many natural resources are used to manufacture a single garment. In addition to this, it also generates tons of waste and toxic residues daily, as can be corroborated with this UN quote.

“UNCTAD data indicates that the clothing industry uses 93,000 million cubic meters of water each year, a volume sufficient to meet the needs of five million people, and that half a million tons of waste are thrown into the sea each year. microfiber, which is equivalent to 3 million barrels of oil”. (UN News, 2019)

Designers When Yael and Shay Alkalay took this earlier situation as an opportunity to develop a new material from recycled textile raw material. In this case, they decided to use the cotton of the garments as the main component of the Raw Edges material.

Figure 4, Raw Edges chair, “Chair with raw or unmade edges”. Source “domusweb”

The fabric used for these chairs uses cotton from the textile industry and mixes it with paper and resins that allow it to be compacted and hardened so that it can be given different shapes depending on the mold used. With Raw Edges pieces of furniture such as tables, chairs and even complete seats have been manufactured. Its structural properties are of high quality, which allows this material to be very versatile and versatile.

The most important characteristic of the products made with this recycled compound is that they are objects that give waste a second useful life and, therefore, reduce the amount of waste from the textile industry, just like the other materials presented.

These materials made from recycled raw material only show, through these three examples, some types of materials that can be manufactured from this form, but there are many others similar and many more that are in the process of being devised.

The common characteristics of these examples are the use of resources and the ability to be substitutes for other materials, due to their incredible characteristics, such as the Newspaperwood of wood or the Waste based bricks of concrete, bricks, and ceramics.

Biodegradable natural materials

Next, some examples of one hundred percent natural materials will be presented, which allow the product to be incorporated into the natural cycle of the Earth, once discarded through biodegradation.

Forest Pine Wool

The first material to highlight in this section is pine wool (see Fig. 4). It is a material that has multiple applications, since it can be used as a fiber for fabrics and, therefore, it would replace some artificial and polluting fibers. such as nylon, lycra or PET. Another of its applications is in a compact format together with natural resins and biopolymers, forming fiber boards that can be used to create furniture or surfaces.

[…]. In fact, every year 6 billion pine trees are felled in the European Union alone, and yet 20 to 30% of the total mass of the trees in the form of pine needles is not used and is abandoned and dumped in the forest floor. Inspired by this fact, the designer Tamara Orjola began to investigate the possible applications of the resource [...] The adequate consumption of the whole tree could reduce the demand for other natural resources, as well as for the tree itself [...] the products are 100% biodegradable. (Franklin and Till, 2019, p. 51)

Figure 5, Forest pine wool, “Forest pine wool”. Owner “tamararjola.com”.

This material is fully biodegradable and therefore reduces the amount of waste. The products manufactured with this raw material would be organic products since they would be easily degraded by the action of nature and would return to form part of the soil nutrients.

Sea me collection

The popularity of algae has increased in the last decade, thanks to the many benefits they offer as food and as a raw material. This example reflects how this aquatic plant is useful for various uses such as natural dyes, fabric manufacturing and even to form solid boards.

The use of algae in design is increasingly present and can be found in the work of other designers such as Jonas Edvard and Nikolaj Streenfatt, the creators of “Terroir”, a collection of lamps and chairs made from paper and algae.

[…] the natural dye with algae offers a wide variety of colors. You can dye textiles in greens, browns, grays, and even pinks and purples. Each type of algae gives a different color. The light fastness of the tint has been shown to be more than qualified. To show the potential of these materials, Nienke designed a chair and a table. The seat of the chair is made of seaweed yarn and naturally dyed with seaweed. This was hand knitted on a soft seat. leftovers from This process are used to create a regular painting for the table. The waste was used to make the bioplastic bowls. This is how he wants to visualize how algae can become part of our homes in the future. (Nienkehoogvliet.nl, (2021)

Figure 6. Sea me collection, “Sea Collection”. Source “nikehoogvliet”.

Basse-Stittgen

The amount of food and food waste recorded daily in the world reaches very high figures as can be seen in the following quote.

Did you know that 45% of the fruits and vegetables grown around the world go to waste? The amount is equivalent to something like 3.7 billion apples. 30% of cereals, or 763,000 million boxes of pasta, are also wasted, and of the 263 million tons of meat produced worldwide each year, 20% is lost, the equivalent of 75 million cows.

In total, according to figures from the UN Fund for Food and Agriculture (FAO), 1.3 billion tons of food produced for human consumption are lost, a third of the total. (UN News, 2018)

The German designer Basse Stittgen chose to invent a material based on eggshells to make consumers aware of their consumption habits.

Basse Stitgen is composed of egg whites and shells that, together with resins, are transformed into a solidified biopolymer. This component is poured into aluminum molds and pressed with hydraulic presses to shape them into plates and tableware.

Figure 7. Basse Stittgen. Source: materialdistrict.com

This material, like the previous ones, is made up of completely natural compounds. Not only does it reuse waste to create objects with value and meaning, but it is also responsible with the environment and seeks to raise user awareness.

The use of these types of materials in the design of products that may include them is beneficial for the environment and for society. This is because, being natural compounds, they are also biodegradable organic products and, therefore, once their useful life is over, they will not take up space on the planet as permanent waste.

CONCLUSION

All these materials presented are varied examples of biocompatible design. Apart from these materials, there are many others that follow the same purpose: “design for nature and with nature”. The most important quality that can be highlighted from these examples is the beneficial contribution they make to the environment and society.

The objectives set at the beginning of the investigation are fulfilled since, in the previous section, sustainable and natural materials are identified that contribute to reducing pollution and it is explained how these can replace other more polluting analogs such as plastics, synthetic fabrics, the concrete and even wood.

Currently, the examples of materials presented in this article are not used on a large scale or for mass production of products, since they are materials of relatively recent innovation and industrial machinery still must be adapted to them.

If these materials were to be used massively, it would mean the exploitation of natural resources or the recycling of waste in large quantities. In any case, the environmental impact would be considerably less compared to the most polluting materials currently used, therefore, although there is an environmental impact by the mere fact of existing, it is reduced.

Analyzing trends such as "Sustainability Recoded", it can be seen how consumers increasingly demand more sustainable and natural products. In recent years, care for the planet and social responsibility on the part of consumers have increased exponentially. For this reason, companies invest more and more in research and the sustainability of their products and services.

At present, there are many problems that society must solve for the conservation of the environment and, among them, is the negative impact of excessive consumerism and the pollution that this entails. As it is very complex and almost impossible to educate all consumers to be more responsible, this research invites design professionals and production companies to develop and introduce sustainable and ecological products on the market that replace other more polluting ones is essential for this, unconsciously, direct the consumer towards a more beneficial alternative for the planet.

Sustainable materials are crucial not only in product design, but in any industry. And, if these materials, in addition to being sustainable, can return to Earth as part of the life cycle, it would be one of the best solutions that exist to mitigate the consequences of contamination by solid waste.