Sustainable Product Design: What It Is and Why It Matters

Sustainable product design entails much more than using recycled materials, though that certainly is one aspect. Sometimes called “eco-friendly product design” or “sustainable industrial design,” it aims to create products and services in a way that does not harm the environment. Beyond reusing materials, opting for environmentally friendly ingredients and reducing waste, it includes choosing production and transportation processes that make little, if any, impact on the ecosystem. As if that weren’t enough, sustainable design also takes into account the lifespan of the products and how they are disposed of.

Obviously sustainable product design benefits the environment. But it benefits businesses, as well. At its best, sustainable product design cuts costs and opens markets. The future of product design is environmentally responsible, and it’s already here.

Why Sustainable Product Design is Becoming More Prevalent

Sustainable product design provides brands with numerous selling propositions to appeal to environmentally aware, value-conscious consumers — and those consumers comprise a significant proportion of the market. Of the 1,500 adults in the U.S. surveyed by Material, 91% expressed concern about sustainability issues ranging from “forever chemicals” to wildlife endangerment.

And in a subsequent survey of 1,213 U.S. adults, 87% said they wanted brands to be more committed to decreasing their environmental impact. The participants were also favorably inclined toward eco-friendly products: 80% believed they were made of safer materials and 62% said they lasted longer than other products. Consumers reward brands at the forefront of sustainable product design with their loyalty and their spending.

For organizations manufacturing within or exporting to the EU, sustainable product design is becoming a requirement. The Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR), the Regulation on Deforestation-free Products (EUDR) and the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism are among the regulations mandating certain eco-friendly product design practices. Failure to comply will result in fines and even bans. Countries within and outside of the EU are enacting additional legislation, as are some U.S. states, and as environmental concerns grow, more will undoubtedly follow suit.

Beyond enabling brands to avoid fines, sustainable product design offers brands other fiscal benefits. Including energy-efficient manufacturing processes reduce utility bills; minimizing waste pares disposal expenses; and slim, lightweight products cost less to ship. And many jurisdictions around the world offer tax breaks and other financial incentives to organizations that invest in sustainable technologies.

6 Common Strategies of Sustainable Product Design

The tenets of sustainable product design can be boiled down to “reduce, reuse, recycle.” The strategies to achieve those tenets, however, are more detailed.

1. Dematerialization

“Do more with less” isn’t just a process efficiency mantra. It also applies to sustainable industrial design, in the form of using as little material in products and packaging as possible without reducing the required functionality. Items that use less material typically weigh less as well, enabling them to be transported more efficiently.

2. Next-best material selection

Furniture made of bamboo instead of hardwood. Hemp-based insulation in lieu of polystyrene. Tiles crafted of recycled glass rather than virgin glass or ceramic. These are examples of next-best material selection. A companion strategy to dematerialization, it requires swapping out current product ingredients and materials for more-sustainable options, again without sacrificing functionality.

3. Product efficiency

Using materials and production processes that consume the fewest resources and generate the least amount of waste is one aspect of efficiency in sustainable product design. The other aspect is ensuring that the products themselves are resource-efficient. Dual-flush toilets, which enable users to choose how powerful a flush they need, are an example; using lighter-weight materials in vehicles to reduce energy consumption is another.

4. Product longevity

Planned obsolescence, in which products are designed to have a limited lifespan so that consumers need to make repeat purchases, is the antithesis of sustainable product design, and it seems to be on the wane. A smartphone with a replaceable battery rather than a non-removable one shows how longevity can be embedded into design.

5. Green supply chain

Sustainable industrial design looks beyond the product itself to ensure all aspects of the supply chain are as eco-friendly as possible. From suppliers that use low-emission production processes, to recyclable packaging, to energy-efficient transportation methods and routes, every element of logistics should cause little — and ideally no — environmental damage.

6. Circularity

Circularity acknowledges that the effects of product design carry on even after the consumer has purchased the product. Sustainable industrial design takes end-of-life product management into account. Can the product be easily disassembled and its materials cost-effectively recycled? Was the product designed with modularity so that just the broken element can be replaced rather than the entire item?

Challenges of Sustainable Product Design

Each of the strategies and tactics that enable sustainable product design has its own intricacies. Adding to the complexity overall is that sometimes tactics are at odds with one other. A design that uses biodegradable materials might not be as durable as one that incorporates less eco-friendly elements; transporting a sustainable material sourced from around the world could generate more greenhouse gas emissions than a less-sustainable substitute produced locally. Optimal eco-friendly product design requires a holistic approach and specialty knowledge that accounts for this interdependence of strategies.

Although sustainable industrial design can reduce energy and transportation costs, some eco-friendly materials and processes are costlier than traditional ones, driving up prices beyond what consumers might be willing to spend. Integrating sustainable processes into an existing supply chain can require equipment and procedural changes that incur additional expenses. And because transparency is a keystone of sustainability, organizations need to implement systems for overseeing vendor compliance with environmental requirements, especially if they are subject to governmental financial incentives or penalties.

Perhaps the most notable challenge is balancing sustainability with functionality and marketplace acceptance. If consumers shun an eco-friendly product because they consider its minimalist appearance ugly or its performance underwhelming, it doesn’t matter how efficient it is, as nobody will be buying it. Successful sustainable product design achieves harmony among all the competing consumer, brand and governmental requirements.

How to Implement Sustainable Product Design

Good for the environment, good for consumers and good for business, sustainable product design is becoming a necessity. Some organizations continue to balk at implementing it, however, in large part because of its complexity.

Material and our in-house design and innovation studio Aruliden have worked with numerous brands to introduce and integrate sustainable industrial design practices and create products in keeping with its core strategies. Contact us today to learn more about how to achieve sustainable product design.

FAQs

Why is sustainability an important consideration in product and industrial design?

The environmental harm caused by many traditional design practices has become impossible to ignore. Governments are introducing financial penalties on businesses that flout sustainable product design practices. And consumers are favoring brands that minimize their environmental footprint. This emphasis on eco-friendliness will only increase as the damage to the planet becomes more significant. Adopting sustainable industrial design now gives organizations a competitive advantage and positions them to be prepared for future environmental mandates.

What are the benefits of sustainable industrial and product design?

The benefits to the planet are obvious: less waste, lower energy consumption, fewer greenhouse gas emissions. But sustainable product design benefits businesses, as well. Organizations can cut costs by implementing energy-efficient production and transportation methods, as well as avoiding government fines. They can also promote their sustainable practices to consumers who view eco-friendly products as being of better quality or who prioritize sustainability when choosing brands and products.

How can companies adopt sustainable product design practices?

The first step in implementing sustainable industrial design is to assess a product’s environmental impact across its entire lifecycle, from the sourcing of materials to the disposal of the item when it is no longer functional. Then, an organization needs to consider how it can improve the environmental friendliness of its materials, production processes, transportation methods and end-of-product-life management without damaging functionality. Because an improvement in one area can have negative effects on another, the organization needs to find an ideal balance that also takes into account practicalities such as costs and profit margins. Sustainable product design can be complex and typically requires specialist knowledge, but the payoff is substantial.