Page 155 - Design for Environment A Guide to Sustainable Product Development

134 Cha pte r Ei g h t

B. Design for Detoxification

Dematerialization reduces the total throughput of materials and
energy, thereby conserving resources and reducing waste and emis-
sions. However, simply reducing the mass of materials is insufficient.
Some materials released into the environment can have significant
adverse human health and environmental impacts even at very low
levels; well-known examples include lead, mercury, and dioxin.
Therefore, analysis of material flows alone is not sufficient for an
understanding of product sustainability. A variety of methods for ana-
lyzing environmental impacts and the associated risks are described
in Chapter 9.
Detoxification refers to the prevention or reduction of adverse
human or ecological effects associated with materials use. It can
include a variety of approaches, such as reduction in the volume of
harmful wastes generated, restrictions on the use of specified materi-
als, replacement of toxic or hazardous materials with benign ones,
waste modification through chemical, energetic or biological treat-
ment, waste containment or isolation to prevent human and ecologi-
cal exposure, and in situ waste treatment.

B.1 Design for Release Reduction
Dematerialization, i.e., reduction of throughput, is the most direct
way to reduce the releases of toxic or hazardous wastes. However,

FIGURE 8.5 Design for detoxifi cation.