re-using

car parts

refilling plastic or
glass containers

re-using
clothing / shoes

Examples of reusing materials

include..

products that
have broken
rather than
replacing them

Sustainability is
about meeting
the needs and
demands of
society without
depleting
resources or
harming natural
cycles for future
generations

our attitude to
enviromental
impact

This reduces
the amount
of processing
needed, so
it's cheaper
and more
environmentally
friendly.

Are grown from

plants or animals
Re-think
the materials
already used

Repair

if they can
be recycled

Recycle

6 R's

Reduce

design for
disassembly and
recover materials
from 'end of
life' products

Carbon
Footprint and
Product Miles

Refuse

to accept
unethical or
wasteful designs
Some plastics
are dumped in
landfill sites.

Some plastics
are burned,
which causes
toxic fumes to
be released into
the atmosphere.

Recycling /
Disposing
of Products

Sustainability
issues

Effect on the
enviroment

Non-renewable
materials

Re-use

About 7% of
oil is used to
manufacture
plastics

Product miles
are the number
of miles a
product travels
in its lifetime.
For example, a
typical product
might travel
as follows:

Are taken from

oil, ores and
minerals, and
can't be replaced
(they are finite)

Approximately
90% of oil is
burned as
heating and
transport fuel.

Once sorted,
the plastics can
be granulated
and cleaned
to remove
any impurities

A carbon
footprint is
the amount of
carbon produced
by any human
activity and its
effects on the
environment.
It's measured
in units of
carbon dioxide

Product
Life Cycles
Source material
to the primary
processor
The pellets can
be mixed with
virgin plastic and
moulded into
new products.

Many plastics
can be recycled.
they need to be
collected and
sorted into their
different types.

the percentage
of recyclable
material used

Re-using
Materials

Renewable
materials

the amount of
material used
in manufacture

if a fee has been

paid to recover
packaging (the
Green Dot
symbol used in
many European
countries)

The recycled
plastics are
melted and
extruded
into pellets

material to
the factory

Products and
packaging have
symbols on
them to show...

products
that can't be
disposed of
in normal
household bins,
e.g. electrical
products
and batteries

So, every activity

you undertake
and every
product you use
can be measured
in terms of the...

the materials
they are made
from, e.g. the
type of plastic
polymer used

materials that
can be sorted
and separated
for recycling

amount of
energy used
at every stage

the carbon emissions produced

product to
the distributor

Distributor to
the retail outlet

Retail outlet to
the user's home

From home to
recycling or tip.