This project has been assisted by the New South Wales Government through its Energy Efficiency Training Program Prepared by Energy Efficiency through Product & Process Design Prepared by Plastics Industry Manufacturers of Australia (PIMA) in partnership with Australian Management Academy (AMA); executed in collaboration with EcoProducts

Copyright and disclaimer The Office of Environment and Heritage and the State of NSW are pleased to allow this material to be used, reproduced and adapted, provided the meaning is unchanged and its source, publisher and authorship are acknowledged. The Office of Environment and Heritage has made all reasonable effort to ensure that the contents of this document are factual and free of error. However, the State of NSW and the Office of Environment and Heritage shall not be liable for any damage which may occur in relation to any person taking action or not on the basis of this document. Office of Environment and Heritage, Department of Premier and Cabinet Phone: (02) (switchboard) Website: 2

Energy Efficiency through Product & Process Design Module 9 – Energy Efficient Manufacturing through Product Design © Australian Management Academy & Eco Products Agency 3

Key Points Energy-efficient product design across the life cycle 1.Polymer manufacturing 2.Primary processing 3.Secondary processing 4.Distribution 5.Use phase 6.End-of-Life 4 © Australian Management Academy & Eco Products Agency

Product Life Cycle Polymer Manufacturing Polymer Manufacturing Primary Processing Primary Processing Secondary Processing Secondary Processing DIstribution Use Disposal Feedstocks Recycling Landfill Production PhaseUse Phase 5 End-of- Life © Australian Management Academy & Eco Products Agency

Light-Weighting Light-weighting has many benefits across the lifecycle and should be a priority Optimum design can take out weight without compromising function –Analysis –Prototyping –Testing –Optimizing 6 © Australian Management Academy & Eco Products Agency

Light-Weighting NEW OLD 7 © Australian Management Academy & Eco Products Agency

Light-Weighting 8 © Australian Management Academy & Eco Products Agency

Light-Weighting Trends in Coca Cola 500 mL PET bottle weights 9 © Australian Management Academy & Eco Products Agency

Light-Weighting Achieved by: Optimising Base design Optimising neck and closure design High precision and process consistency Improved PET grades 10 © Australian Management Academy & Eco Products Agency

Recycle Content Recycling recovers the embodied energy – new (virgin) plastic doesn’t have to be made Energy required for reprocessing is much less than embodied energy 11 © Australian Management Academy & Eco Products Agency

Recycle Content Recycled content can also be a marketing advantage Becoming widely accepted or mandatory UK juice bottle with On-Pack labeling 12 © Australian Management Academy & Eco Products Agency

Biopolymers & Biocomposites Bioplastics made from renewable feedstocks have lower embodied energy PLA bioplastic compared to conventional plastics 13 © Australian Management Academy & Eco Products Agency

Product Life Cycle Polymer Manufacturing Polymer Manufacturing Primary Processing Primary Processing Secondary Processing Secondary Processing DIstribution Use Disposal Feedstocks Recycling Landfill Production PhaseUse Phase 14 End-of- Life © Australian Management Academy & Eco Products Agency

Material Selection Plastics require different amounts of energy to heat to the process temperature But in practice this is not significant as only 5- 10% of the input energy goes into the polymer 15 © Australian Management Academy & Eco Products Agency

Material Selection Low density materials use less processing energy per unit volume High flow, low melting point saves energy Higher performance materials can allow thinner walls and lighter weight Lubricant additives in extrusion processes 16 © Australian Management Academy & Eco Products Agency

Material Selection Eliminate or minimize energy use for drying 17 © Australian Management Academy & Eco Products Agency

Process Selection Extrusion processes generally have lower SEC Minimize the number of parts by integration Multi-cavity tools Hot-runner tools 18 © Australian Management Academy & Eco Products Agency

Light-weighting Reducing the amount of material saves energy in primary processes –Less material to dry –Less material to heat –Lower requirement for cooling –Faster cycle times 19 © Australian Management Academy & Eco Products Agency

Light-weighting Foaming –Chemical blowing agents –MuCell® Hollow part technologies –Gas injection –Water injection –Projectile injection 20 © Australian Management Academy & Eco Products Agency

Example BMW Fan Shroud –MuCell™ supercritical gas foaming process –Glass fibre polyamide material –8% weight reduction, 22% cycle time reduction –30% injection machine clamp force reduction allowed hinge to be moulded in the same tool –energy saving 30% + 21 © Australian Management Academy & Eco Products Agency

Trimming Trimming operations use energy –Blow moulding flash removal with saws, punching jigs –Drilling, routing Additional energy used for granulating off-cuts Design to eliminate or minimise trimming where possible 22 © Australian Management Academy & Eco Products Agency

Joining & Assembly Welding operations use energy Consider alternatives during design –Snap-lock assembly –Adhesive joining –Part integration Minimise part movements –Assembly at the primary process 23 © Australian Management Academy & Eco Products Agency

Painting & Decorating Integrate with primary process –In Mould Decoration and Labelling Avoid paint drying ovens –Powder coat processes –UV curing Eliminate painting –through-coloured materials 24 © Australian Management Academy & Eco Products Agency

Example Peugeot 206+ Radiator Grille –Achieves metallic look without painting –Borealis Daplen™ EH104E-0515 polypropylene compound –High-flow (MFI 40) minimizes number of injection points and weld lines –special metallic pigment system provides equivalent appearance to paint 25 © Australian Management Academy & Eco Products Agency

Product Life Cycle Polymer Manufacturing Polymer Manufacturing Primary Processing Primary Processing Secondary Processing Secondary Processing DIstribution Use Disposal Feedstocks Recycling Landfill Production PhaseUse Phase 26 End-of- Life © Australian Management Academy & Eco Products Agency

Reduce Packaging Unit packs, store packs, warehouse packs –Delete a level Eliminate unnecessary over-packaging EnvironmentVictoria 2008 ‘Golden DUMP (Damaging & Useless Materials in Packaging)’ Award winner for © Australian Management Academy & Eco Products Agency

Packing Density Kraft 300 mL PET liquid dressing bottle Redesign achieved 13% weight reduction and 21% increase in pallet utilization 28 © Australian Management Academy & Eco Products Agency

Returnable Packs 29 © Australian Management Academy & Eco Products Agency Returnable 23 litre produce tray (Viscount) Replaces corrugated cardboard tray with a lifetime of 1 – 5 trips Achieves several hundred trips with less damage to stock

Energy in Use Well designed products may result in greater energy efficiency when in use ProductEnergy saving Light weight vehicle components Reduced vehicle weight and improve fuel efficiency Plastic wine bottlesIncreased aircraft payload Light weight crates increased truck fuel efficiency during distribution Collapsible crates Higher stacking density, fewer truck movements Thermal insulationReducing heat loss 30 © Australian Management Academy & Eco Products Agency

Product Life Cycle Polymer Manufacturing Polymer Manufacturing Primary Processing Primary Processing Secondary Processing Secondary Processing DIstribution Use Disposal Feedstocks Recycling Landfill Production PhaseUse Phase 31 End-of- Life © Australian Management Academy & Eco Products Agency

End-of-Life Options Repair and Re-use Closed Loop Recycling Down Cycling Recovery (Energy or Compost) Landfill Increasing life cycle energy efficiency Increasing life cycle energy use 32 © Australian Management Academy & Eco Products Agency

Recovery & Recycling Recycling minimises energy life cycle energy use compared to landfill or energy recovery Life Cycle energy use for 1 kg of PET bottles 33 © Australian Management Academy & Eco Products Agency

Summary There are energy saving opportunities throughout the life cycle Energy efficient design uses life cycle thinking Light-weighting has many energy saving benefits Recycling can save energy through the life cycle 34 © Australian Management Academy & Eco Products Agency