Points to consider when selecting display materials

When designing display systems it is current, good practice to consider the use of alternative materials that impact less on the environment than traditionally specified materials.

Environmentally-preferable materials may fall into a variety of categories such as recycled content, biodegradable, organic, locally manufactured, lower content of hazardous chemicals, natural fibres, sustainably sourced, high strength-weight ratio, results in minimal waste etc.

Reduce

Making a product as light as possible is a good design concept and generally increases the environmental performance of a product as less weight often translates to less material content, less energy used in manufacture and a reduction in fuel used for transport.

Another issue to consider is the cost of disposal if re-use or recycling options are not available. Landfill Tax is calculated on the disposal weight, and reduced design weight means reduced Landfill Tax. At £40/tonne rising at £8/tonne until at least 2013 this is a high additional cost to the end user.

Re-use

This Design strategy is something designers could use to ensure that products do not end up in landfill. By designing a product, unit or component for re-use, it means a reduction in the need to manufacture new replacement parts and reduces the chance of a part being sent to landfill.

Recycle

Design for recycling is a good design strategy as products can be created with recycling considered at the concept stage to avoid landfill at the end of use.

Minimisation of different materials is a good design concept to consider. By keeping the amount of different materials to a minimum, the recycling process is made easier as separating and sorting different materials makes the recycling process more difficult, and often prevents recycling.

Selecting a material that has well established and readily available collection and recycling routes is important as end users are often paid for recyclable materials rather than having to pay for disposal in landfill.