Where do electronic products go when they die? If they are disposed through household waste, landfill sites are the most likely final resting place. Hazardous substances contained within can find their way into groundwater, posing an obvious health threat
			windows recycle dialogue box
		Within the EU the Waste and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directive will be implemented soon. Essentially, producers will be responsible for the waste that that their own products produce. Consumers will be able to return products at the end of their life without charge. This is a dramatic turning point for industry and ultimately the consumer.
			The tag is embeded in electronic products & removed to begin recycling....
		My project, part of my MA in Industrial Design at Central Saint Martins, looks at the implications for Industrial Design. It proposes a new system for tracking products through their lifecycle. Products will have tags, which help the user put the product into the correct waste stream. The tag is a usb flash drive which when taken out of the product and plugged into a computer initiates recycling by arranging for the collection of the product. Networked products which have displays could have a GreenButton which can directly arrange recycling but also provide the user with constant feedback about the environmental footprint of the product during its use phase.
			...plugging it into the usb port of a computer initiates recycling by arranging collection.
		How will consumers be incentivized to use a system like this? Might they feel short-changed, having paid to own the product outright but obliged to return it to the manufacture at the end of its life? Changes in the pricing system might be needed e.g. a deposit could be included in the full retail price, returned or offered as vouchers when the product is returned at the end of its life. Similar systems already exist for collecting empty coke bottles or supermarket trolleys. But might legislation like WEEE be a tipping point, pushing us from a system based on the outright ownership of products to one where we purchase the services that products provide?
			product footprint diologue box for a laptop
		Ethical consumerism is a growing trend, people are willing to pay more to do the right thing. It has become part of our sense of what constitutes value for money. It is already firmly established in food retail and is moving into fashion. Is the electricals sector next??
		Contact Details: a: 58 aylesbury road, london se17 2eh m: 07958 537989) t: 0207 5643325 e: joncoombes@gmail.com