Scottish companies working in the design and manufacturing industry are being offered a unique opportunity to explore ways of making their products and packaging more sustainable and cost-efficient, at a seminar being held in Glasgow next week.
Envirowise is hosting a free seminar in the James Weir Building at Strathclyde University on Tuesday 11th September, from 9am – 2pm, to help Glasgow based businesses grasp the environmental and commercial opportunities associated with cleaner design.
As part of the seminar, Envirowise, along with local product design engineering consultancy Lightweight Medical and Sustainable Development Commission Scotland, will offer an insight into the exciting opportunities for product design, whilst taking into account the increasing challenges to create sustainable designs that meet evolving legislation and growing environmental responsibility.
Founded in 2003 by a group of graduates from Glasgow School of Art, Lightweight Medical is renowned for developing sustainable healthcare products. The company has been winning customers, as well as a number of outstanding national design and innovation awards, for its environmentally focussed business philosophy where sustainability and environmental awareness flow through everything it designs.
The firm will showcase its unique approach to design with a new groundbreaking neonatal transport incubator system. The award-winning incubator was developed for low-dependency newborns and embraced sustainable design principles along with rigorous resource efficiency methods across its design and manufacture.
Neil Farish, director at Lightweight Medical explains; “As one of the few companies in Scotland practicing sustainable design, we were delighted to be asked to present at the Envirowise seminar. We hope to encourage other companies to adopt sustainable design policies.
“Sustainable design is reducing the environmental impact of a product across its entire life cycle, from creation to disposal, without compromising on performance, durability or desirability.”
The neo-capsul© incubator was designed with its entire life cycle in mind and was manufactured so that at the end of its life, 80% of the materials used can be recycled. A conscious effort was made to manufacture all components in the UK to minimise the environmental impact of transport. To comply with legislation, Lightweight Medical essentially designs products to be efficient in use and easily recyclable at the end of life, complying with both WEEE1 and RoHS2 legislation. The neo-capsul© has been designed for repair and disassembly by eliminating adhesives, making it completely mechanical.
Neil continues; “The business case for sustainable design is simple: it results in more profitable products. This can be through reduction in material, manufacturing and distribution costs; capitalising on new legislation and procurement policies; increased consumer brand loyalty and generation of new intellectual property.”
Derek Jarvie, Envirowise project manager adds; “The seminar will illustrate how cleaner design principles can be adopted to achieve cost savings, satisfy legislation and improve competitive advantage.
“Envirowise is calling on designers, engineers, managers, decision makers, environmental representatives, local authorities, academia, trade associations and regulatory bodies to take advantage of the advice on offer to help them gain competitive advantage in an increasingly challenging marketplace.”
The event will also inform delegates of forthcoming interactive disassembly workshops in Glasgow in October and November where they can learn more about applying cleaner design to their products and have their products and packaging analysed by experts.
To find out more about the support available to your business, or to register to attend this event, please contact Olivia Neale at olivia.neale@envirowise.gov.uk / tel: 01635 280 340. Alternatively you can register online at www.envirowise.gov.uk/cleanerdesignglasgow
Notes:
1. The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive came into force on 1st July and will have a major impact on Scottish producers and importers of electrical and electronic products. The Directive aims to reduce the environmental impact of electrical and electronic equipment waste, which is expected to double over the next 15 years as buying new equipment becomes more cost-effective than repairing existing items. Essentially, producers are now responsible for financing the collection, treatment, recovery and recycling of their goods at the end of their useful life.
2. The RoHS Directive banned the sale of new electrical and electronic equipment that contained more than agreed levels of particular hazardous substances when it was introduced on 1 July 2006. This means that producers now have to ensure that electric or electronic products do not contain more than minimal levels of six banned substances; Lead, Mercury, Cadmium, Hexavalent Chromium, PBB and PDBE – which can be found in common items such as televisions, computer monitors and fluorescent lighting tubes.
For more information please contact:
Laura McKenzie at Trimedia Harrison Cowley on 0131 226 2363 or email laura.mckenzie@trimediahc.com
About Envirowise:
Envirowise is a Government-funded programme dedicated to putting the sustainable use of resources at the heart of Scottish business practice.
Since 1994 Envirowise has helped UK businesses save over £1Bn by enabling them to significantly reduce their environmental footprints.
Envirowise offers businesses of all sizes and sectors a wide range of free, independent and practical advice designed to genuinely improve their processes, profitability and competitiveness. Services include:
- The Envirowise Advice Line on 0800 585794
- An encyclopaedic website of valuable and relevant information (www.envirowise.gov.uk/scotland)
- Over 200 events each year, from Product Design Workshops to major exhibitions