154 FEATURE design principles to minimise waste and promote recycling.” The products that are most easily separated into homogenous materials have the best metrics for recycling. Recycling considerations go far beyond just a product level. “One of the key arguments that should be brought forward is the general legislation in the various countries in which ships are being produced,” says Sascha Gill, vice president of sustainability at Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA). “The European Union has recently launched a legal framework (ship recycling) that clearly determines how a ship produced in Europe must be recycled. With this in mind, it becomes very clear what materials you can use in order to build a vessel.” Design for disassembly has multiple benefits and has become an important feature of sustainable products. “Interior items should be easily disassembled for recycling to alternative use,” says Jason West, managing director of WDC Creative. He calls for “not using too many materials and keeping designs minimal and functional.” Very few products take this approach as far as it can go today, leaving an open opportunity for innovative manufacturers to take the lead in many product categories. Product buyers are increasingly eager to ensure a productive second life for products when they are taken off a ship. Francesca Panatta, interior manager at Holland America Group, was one of many respondents asking “is there a leasing or a take-back scheme in place?” While maritime examples are currently rare, product leasing is expected to grow considerably in the coming years. Remanufacturing is similarly underutilised as a product sustainability approach, for now. While product designers are starting to adopt design virtues that better enable remanufacturing (such as modularity, standardisation and ease of disassembly), the product path back to the factory currently has too many hurdles, economic rather that desire. Sum of all the parts Collectively, the poll’s top five criteria in the four groups (see table) provide a fairly robust framework for measuring the sustainability of any interior product. Turning this set of criteria and measures into a workable process to rate interior products will require further investigation. It would then be possible to generate a weighted score for each measured criteria to give products an overall sustainability rating. The simplicity of it is very appealing. It isn’t surprising to note that this model draws significantly from the 9R Framework – an approach that has earned widespread favour in the industry, including with Tillberg Design of Sweden. Read about how they are tackling sustainability in our interview with one of the firm’s partners, Helena Sawelin, on page 156. Similarities can also be found through pursuing an approach based on SDG Compass guidance. YSA Design is on 1 Cradle to Cradle Certified Version 4.0 and Material Health Certificate 2 Environmental Product Declaration No consensus on certification provider 3 Forest Stewardship Council FSC Recycled, FSC 100% and FSC Mix 4 Global Organic Textile Standard Certification of entire textile supply chain 5 EU Ecolabel Covering product groups relevant to maritime 6 ISO 14001 Company-wide environmental management 7 SBTi validated Science Based Targets for organisational emissions 8 Product Carbon Footprint Majority referenced Carbon Trust 9 ISO 16000 A series of standards for indoor air quality 10 Oeko-Tex Standard 100, Made in Green and Eco Passport 11 UL Greenguard Chemical emissions standard 12 B Corporation Company social and environmental performance 13 Floor Score Indoor air quality certification for flooring 14 Nordic Swan Ecolabel Covers entire product lifecycle 15 Blue Angel Government of Germany’s product ecolabel Trusted certification Product sustainability certification programmes most trusted by SMI Declaration supporters • Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability • Circular Economy Action Plan • Circular Economy Monitoring Framework • Construction Products Regulation • Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence • Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive • Critical Raw Materials Act • Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation • Environment Action Programme to 2030 • EU Taxonomy • European Green Deal • Green Claims Directive • Packaging and Packaging Waste • Regulation on deforestation-free products • Ship Recycling Regulation • Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles • Textiles Ecosystem Transition Pathway • Waste Framework Directive • Zero Pollution Action Plan EU drives sustainability action The EU has several initiatives focused towards net zero by 2050. Key programmes and legislation include:
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