10
years of WEEE in the UK Shaping the future Inspirations: building on the past
Inspirations: building on the past “We don’t need to reinvent everything: many solutions are already there, we just need to go back a bit to find them.”
of WEEE in the UK: Shaping the future, which this article originally featured in. He was speaking about Dieter Rams, the German industrial designer whose work as chief design officer at Braun helped to pioneer the sustainable design movement.
These were the closing words of Jan Patrick Schulz, CEO of Landbell Group, in the interview featured in our report, 10 years
Jan Patrick’s admiration for Rams and the point he was making was important not only because it recognises contributors that helped
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to innovate in the past, but because it also recognises its potential to change the future. To end this report, we want to pay homage to the past by celebrating some of the pioneers of compliance and sustainable design, taking inspiration from their work (some of which is ongoing), and considering it in the context of our ambitions for a more sustainable future.
Dieter Rams In the design world, Dieter Rams is legendary. The renowned industrial designer made his name working as chief design officer at Braun. Rams’ storied 50-plus year career, in which he designed everything from coffee makers to calculators, and consumer appliances to office products, has sealed his legend. His work has been celebrated and analysed in numerous museums, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Design Museum in London. As Jan Patrick pointed out, one incredible thing about Rams, which is often under-appreciated, is that he stood for sustainable development decades ago. He understood long before most that designers were the ones responsible for creating almost everything that would end up in landfill, and that designers should bear that in mind to do things differently. What’s even more incredible is that Rams’ sustainable ethos is perhaps even more pertinent today than it was back then. In the 1960s, Rams famously defined his design philosophy into ten distinct principles. When considering Rams in terms of his contribution to a more sustainable future and the current movement towards a circular economy, two of these principles stand out: “Good design is durable.” Rejecting the idea of ‘fashionable’ design, Rams always championed durability. Rams
believed in creating products to last many years, which is as relevant to the ‘throwaway’ attitude prevalent in society today as it ever was. “We need to deal with our resources differently, in terms of how we waste things,” Rams recently told Fast Company in an interview published in 2015. “We have to move away from the throwaway habit. Things can, and must, last longer. They must be designed so that they can be reused.”
With concepts such as EPR and the circular economy gaining increasing prominence globally, and influencing corporate commitments and legislative policy, Jan Patrick Schulz’s reflections on Rams and his relevance today ring true. “Rams was ahead of his time,” Schulz acknowledged. “Maybe now is a better time for (his principles) to thrive on a larger scale: the consumer demands it and the market is ready for it.”
“Good design is concerned with environment.” Rams understood that design makes an important contribution to the preservation of the environment. It conserves resources and minimises pollution throughout and after the product’s lifecycle. “We need to take more care of our environment,” explains Rams. “That is the future of design, to take more care of these basic elements. Otherwise I’m not sure what the future of our planet will be.”
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Hans Korfmacher Hans Korfmacher was a critical figure in both European Recycling Platform’s (ERP) formation and evolution. He first began discussing the idea behind ERP in 1995, when he was Senior Specialist of Environmental Affairs at 3M Germany. He would become ERP’s first president. There are few better placed than Korfmacher to understand the changes and challenges that came with the introduction of the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive. In 2002, commenting on the then-forthcoming WEEE Directive, Korfmacher stated that ERP’s objectives were “to identify high-quality recycling services on the best terms from the European market to minimise the costs passed onto consumers.” Korfmacher would be a major force in not only meeting these objectives with ERP, but exceeding them. The WEEE Directive Before the WEEE Directive was in place, many producers were fearful of the uncertainty such an unprecedented change would entail for their businesses. Korfmacher was always enthusiastic about the WEEE Directive. “The WEEE Directive was intended to manage waste streams from waste electrical appliances, but due to changes in the global resource market, WEEE has become very valuable. The level of recycling probably would have resulted in a developed take-back market from some categories of WEEE with or without the WEEE Directive.”
The value of waste
The value of competition
But Korfmacher was acutely aware of the potential to use the WEEE Directive to help consumers realise that WEEE is something that’s inherently valuable to be recycled, not rubbish to be thrown in a landfill, and said in its early years that the WEEE Directive would continue to change the perception of waste products so they are handled less as an unwanted burden and more as a resource.
One of Korfmacher’s key contributions was the extent to which he championed competition. This has been critical not only in providing producers with better services at lower costs, but in driving innovation across the recycling and compliance industry. “ERP has helped to change the authorities’ perception that only having one system is the best way to respond to the WEEE Directive,” Korfmacher explained in 2007, “and that increased competition offers the greatest advantages to the customer.”
“It all comes down to managing our resources in Europe,” he said in 2008. Less than a decade later, ERP would be celebrating collecting and recycling over 3 million tonnes of WEEE across Europe and beyond, largely thanks to his groundwork and foresight. Since then, the desire to reach a point where all waste is valuable to ensure that it is recycled is increasing. Though we are not there yet, the increased prominence of extended producer responsibility (EPR), the circular economy, and the demand for improved waste reporting across the board show that we are moving in the right direction.
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I think of Viktor Sundberg as the grandfather of IPR, and Hans Korfmacher as the grandfather of ERP. Everybody else is dancing to their tune.” Dr Kieren Mayers Director of Environment and Technical Compliance at Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
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The inspiration It’s important to recognise just how inspirational a force Korfmacher was in the birth of ERP. “He single-handedly came up with the idea behind ERP, poured his life into trying to implement these changes, and it was not an easy journey,” explains Dr. Kieren Mayers, Director of Environment and Technical Compliance at Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe, “I think his role as a visionary behind this is often underappreciated, even though everyone involved knows how important his role was.” It’s figures like Mayers that are playing a critical role in influencing the industry in terms of issues like extended producer responsibility (EPR) and Individual Producer Responsibility (IPR) today, which shows the importance of the groundwork laid by Korfmacher. That Korfmacher inspired him so much is telling. “He was the person that convinced me to jump on board,” explains Mayers, “and he continues to be an inspiring person even in his retirement today. He’s the one you can look at and say, ‘Without him it wouldn’t have happened.’”
Viktor Sundberg Viktor Sundberg is currently Vice President of Environmental and European Union Affairs at Electrolux in Brussels, and was another key figure in establishing ERP between 2002 and 2006. For years, Sundberg has bridged sustainable design concepts with policy and corporate action: he explains technology to decision-makers, and political and environmental processes to business managers and R&D experts. Champion of IPR Sundberg’s work has massively steered the direction that the waste management and compliance industry is taking today, particularly the emergence of IPR. “Viktor really led the whole IPR initiative, as a precursor to the ERP discussions,” explains Kieren Mayers, “and in doing so he created an environment where producers were focusing on something that was environmentally progressive, and even had the support of nongovernmental organisations; he spearheaded that campaign with his own blood, sweat, and effort – he’s another inspiring person.” The transition to high-efficiency products Sundberg’s work with Electrolux has been massively influential. Electrolux was one of the first companies to introduce refrigerators and freezers with climate-friendly natural refrigerants and insulation gases in the EU. Not only are Electrolux an ERP founding member, but also a member of U4E, a global effort that helps developing countries and emerging
Recognising the efforts of those who laid the groundwork is crucial in driving further innovation.
© Copyright, Electrolux economies move to energy-efficient appliances and equipment. The U4E project is a UN Environment initiative. Bridging business and sustainable design directives Sundberg’s work has consistently emphasised the development of sustainable products and the promotion of sustainable consumption; Electrolux’s wide scale success in this regard has paved the way for others to follow. Electrolux’s award-winning product collections show that stylish modern design can be both practical, and most importantly, have sustainable features. In September 2017, Electrolux was named Industry Leader of the Household Durables category in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DSJI World). It is the eleventh consecutive year that Electrolux has received recognition in this assessment, which is a testament to their commitment to sustainability in their global operations and in their products.
The coming years promise to bring major changes in the ways producers operate, from how they design their products to the ways in which they are charged once they are on (and off) the market. As the industry and the environment also change, it’s important that
“The Electrolux Group has a strong commitment to sustainable practice and external recognition of this is certainly appreciated as we strive across three fronts to minimise environmental impact,” said Viktor Sundberg. Within his industry, Sundberg emphasises that all legal obligations are minimum requirements that producers must not only meet, but exceed where possible, such as performance declarations (in energy labels), restriction and registration of chemicals (REACH) and producer responsibility. Sundberg believes that all of these things are needed: it is not a matter of ‘either/or’, and it is equally important that all rules are aligned and consistently enforced. ERP and Landbell Group continue to champion these points today.
we find new ways of responding to these developments. But it’s also important that we re-examine previous innovations to identify how we can push them on further and discover the ways they can be applied today and in the future.
www.erp-recycling.org/uk 10 Year Report: Continual Evolution Part 1
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