Product recovery

The current "produce-consume-throw away" trend requires models to be adopted to manage the waste we generate.

All the management models currently widely used either foster the closing of cycles (recycling) or not (landfill, incineration), consider discarded products as "waste", where in the best cases the materials are recovered by means of recycling or the parts (in some specific sectors). In other words, none of those models consider the recovery of the product in its entirety.

Thus, products that could be returned to a full or partial functionally are thrown away, in the same way as the technology and knowledge used in their manufacturing.

This Ideas Notebook analyses how ecodesign can help in the full product recovery as a strategy within a Circular Economy for more efficient management of the resources, as, even though it is still not a well-known practice, represents a good option to curb the loss of resources in landfill or incineration.