Eco-design and Eco-materials: An interactive and collaborative approach

Sustainability and recycling have come to be keywords in many consumer products. However, the creative industry still lacks design tools suitable for sustainable development. While different recycled and sidestream materials are available in industry, the relation between sustainability and the use of new composites is still difficult to be evaluated and integrated into the early design phases for the creative area. This paper deals with a collaborative Eco-design approach to support these tasks and overcome traditional limits using an interactive approach. The interaction regards the collaboration between several stake-holders such as designers, manufacturers and suppliers throughout the engineering activities and value stream. The framework of an Eco-design tool is proposed to evaluate secondary raw materials, processes, user's feedback, and best practices for the selection of green and recycled materials.