Product Recycling Systems

Massachusetts Institute Of Technology, Cambridge MA

Investigators

Abstract

The proposed work is intended to help society move toward sustainable materials usage by modeling recycling system performance and relating it to product design. The model will account for disassembly, value capture, hazardous materials disposal and materials reclamation. Performance will be evaluated in terms of cost, energy and environmental impact. A central feature of this modeling effort will be to capture the performance of unit processes and the system in terms of output purity and wastes. Product information will be obtained from a team of designers, public documentation, and product tear down analysis to be conducted by students in courses on Environmentally Benign Manufacturing. Data and recycling equipment parameters will be obtained from existing operations and analytical models. Collaborators on this project are: Hewlett-Packard, including their joint recycling venture with Noranda, the National Electronics Manufacturing Initiative, RRT Design & Construction, Concurrent Technologies Corporation, Ford, and Chaparral Steel. In addition, Dr. Stanley Gershwin of M.I.T. will assist us in system modeling and design. This work will focus initially on the reclamation steps for electronics products, and will lead to design for recycling tools for designers. Specific attention will be given to takeback legislation in Japan, Europe, and the United States. The contributions of this work will be to challenge current design thinking, educate the future engineers in design consequences, build recycling system models, and to develop a methodology to evaluate product designs for recycling. This work will also result in significant education impacts to society through: 1) direct involvement of both graduate and undergraduate student in the product analysis part of this project, and 2) dissemination of our work through conference and journal papers.