Potential Future
PVC
PVC is an incredibly useful material that’s used all over the world, from window frames to blood bags to waste pipes, etc. However, PVC poses some real concerns regarding it’s toxicity. Research studies have found that upon product end of life, PVC leaches toxic chemicals into soils, contaminating ground, water and air. Some EU countries have either banned PVC from certain products, or banned it entirely. We foresee PVC to become a material that is to undergo tighter regulation in the future.
Carbon Tax
The UK currently does not have a carbon tax. However, in many groups that we’re apart of, Carbon Tax is spoken about a lot, mostly not regarding whether it should be implemented, but how to implement it, and how the tax funds collected should be reinvested into the economy, and how high polluting critical services will be impacted.
There are various carbon-like taxes including fuel taxes and energy taxes, such as the fuel duty escalator and the Climate Change Levy. The UK was also a member of the European Union Emission Trading Scheme until it left the EU. It has since implemented its own carbon trading scheme.
Carbon Count
Restaurants at COP26 included carbon counts on their menus, alongside typical identifiers such as calorie count, vegan, vegetarian, gluten free, etc. to allow for users to make informed decisions upon purchase. Klimato’s carbon count system is a new system that is specifically addressing carbon counting for the food industry. We hope to see this system in more menus in the future.
We believe that this notation will become more apparent in the future, not only for menus, but for most food stuffs, and eventually spreading out into high volume/high impact products. There were historical systems such as carbon footprint calculators, for carbon counting, but it never hit mainstream. There are already existing systems that allow products to ‘wear badges of honour’ regarding their sustainability such as EU Ecolabel, but not a unified agreed system for true carbon counting. True carbon counting is difficult, and to do it accurately requires an in-depth investigation into the total supply chain, something that only a full Life Cycle Analysis can really calculate. Polestar have recently published their LCA of their latest electrical vehicle. There are however smaller and simpler systems (such as EI99) that are easy to implement throughout the design stage, in order to steer the development towards a more sustainable direction.
Circular Economy
This is probably the system that has the biggest impact regarding sustainability. This system is a mindset shift from a Take; Make; Waste system, that is driven from an imbalanced capitalistic society to a Circular System by eliminating waste and pollution, circulating products and materials, all whilst regenerating nature. To do this frameworks are set up encouraging innovative thinking and commercial partnership across all industries. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation is playing a big part in the push for the Circular Economy, by providing helpful toolkits for businesses, but also talking to politicians and governing bodies, like the EU and nation leaders, about the correct implementation of a CE future.
The EU are already putting measures in place to encourage CE systems through packaging, plastics or recycling systems.
Sustainable Development Goals
On a global level, all United Nation member states in 2015 adopted a 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. These include 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) which call for urgent action by all countries. Most large organisations have systems in place to achieve these goals, such as Chiesi, Dell, GSK, Nestle, Sabic, Philips, etc. Forcing these giants into sustainable practices has not only yielded benefits environmentally, but socially and commercially. This global push has also opened up the gates for much smaller organisations who wished to do the right thing, but didn’t know where to start, what to do, or how it should be done.
In conclusion, it’s clear to see that there are plenty of existing and future legislation to limit our wasteful impact. There’s even a lot of very useful regulation regarding certain technical elements and even guidance documentation about how to effectively implement these changes.
However, as we are all aware, more still needs to be done, that’s why at HD we pay attention to not only current legislation, but keep our ear to the ground regarding future legislation, as the products designed today, need to be prepared for the world of tomorrow.
Designing for future legislation requires deep insight into market trends, technical capability and cutting edge technological innovations. This results in products that are designed 3-5-10 years ahead of the current market, meaning that should legislation come in that limits or even bans certain hazardous materials, or requires certain single material use, we would’ve already done so, meaning that there’s no future product recalls, or expensive retrospective redesign and potential for damage to your company reputation.
We’d very much like to hear what you say about sustainability. Do you think we’re doing enough? Do you think plastics are good or bad? What do you think we could do better at? Will the Circular Economy help? Please write to use and let us know!
If you would like to learn more about how we can help you with your NPD challenges, please get in touch.