Stella Vanassche van VITO legt uit hoe duurzaamheidsbewaking voor digitale productie vormgegeven zou kunnen worden adhv drie principes:
• Beperk het materiaalgebruik
• Maximaliseer het gebruik van gerecycleerde materialen
• Minimaliseer de impacten van waardeketens op de beschikbaarheid van natuurlijke hulpbronnen, rekening houdend met economische efficiëntie en sociale rechtvaardigheid.
Principle 1: Minimize the use of materials(lean material flows)This principle calls for prevention, as materials that are not used will remain available. At the same time, those functionalities necessary to satisfy our needs that are provided by the materials must be maintained or improved. To reduce material throughput without loss of functionalities, different strategies will be applied:Minimize material losses over the complete value chain of products and services (resource efficiency, re-use)Maximize the functionality of materials at every point in the value chain (resource effectiveness, ‘do more with less’, dematerialization, product service systems, material substitution)
Principle 2: Maximize the use of recycled materials (cycle closure)The use of materials to satisfy our needs can be minimized (principle 1), but never completely avoided. However, resources from nature can be saved by minimizing the share of primary materials in the total requirement of materials that provide the functionality required to fulfill our needs. The corresponding strategy consists of:Increase the recycling of End-of-Life products into products or materials with similar or superior functionalities as those that are obtained from primary materials (recycling for loop closing and upcycling, urban mining, design for recycling)
Principle 3: Minimize the impacts of value chains on the availability of natural resources, taking into account economic efficiency and social equity. (value chain management, life cycle sustainability assessment)A value chain with the leanest possible material flows (principle 1) and a maximum share of recycled products and materials (principle 2) might i) present avoidable impacts in its interaction with the use of other resources from nature, ii) lack economic efficiency or iii) provoke social inequity. Strategies to minimize value chain impacts include:Increase the awareness and engagement of value chain stakeholders and actors, applying a multidisciplinary approach (clustering, green business models)
Life Cycle Thinking (LCT):Looks at environmental impacts of goods and services across all life cycle stagesSeeks to identify possible improvements to goods and services in the form of lower environmental impacts and reduced resource use Aims to avoid burden shiftingBetween different life cycle stagesBetween regionsBetween impact categories