Recycling is often something that we think about at the end of a product’s life, but we really should be thinking more about recycling at the design stage. That’s the suggestion from Recoup in its updated guide ‘Recyclability By Design’.
The guide was originally published in 2006 and has been updated in the past, but this latest update places further emphasis on how the design of packaging can play a crucial role in its recyclability when the product has been used.
The guide, which you can download here from the Recoup website, covers all the stages of the recycling process for plastic bottles and other products, and aims to promote better recycling rates. We all need a bit of help when it comes to putting more effort into our recycling efforts at home and at work, so if manufactures can do anything to inspire greater rates of recycling then this has to be a good thing.
Recoup claims that that there is not enough focus on why the recyclability of products is important right at the design stage, whereas really the issue of recycling should be a big consideration very early on. However, the challenge for designers is that they must continue to design products that do not disrupt current recycling schemes.
The guide has only just been updated to it will be interesting to see just how seriously the industry takes the advice. However, anything that can help to inspire better rates of recycling has to be a good thing, so hopefully designers will begin to take the issue more seriously when designing packaging.
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