Design methodologies for sustainable products from mixed waste plastics and foundry sands

Abstract

This design research proposes, through cooperation between the private sector (industry) and the public sector (university), new furniture and cladding solutions to integrate the urban environment. It seeks to raise awareness on the reuse of industrial waste originating from mixed plastics and foundry sands, promoting collection, valorisation, and transformation. It potentiates sustainable advances that allow contributing to a Circular Economy, through the premise of safeguarding natural resources, as well as environmental ones. For the development of the proposal, a design methodology that combines the Double Diamond model with the Circular Design model is applied. From this conjugation, sustainability is explored as an intrinsic condition of the product, capable of producing added value through design and innovation, minimising the impact of industrial waste on the environment. Simultaneously, the modular concept was explored, that is the application of a single component in the development of several solutions, thus reducing production costs and increasing the range of design possibilities. With this approach, we intend to contribute to a change in the design paradigms, through sustainable and environmentally friendly production techniques. The results obtained contributed to the awareness of designers, architects, or engineers, allowing the identification of new ways and contributions of design in industrial customs and traditions, as well as, transferring technical-productive knowledge about the positive impact of the reuse of industrial waste in the design of new products.