E-waste has grown at such a rate that it is quickly becoming the largest contributor to landfills. Recycling, long seen as a ‘silver bullet’, has been outpaced by our waste generation, leaving metric tonnes of plastic and heavy metals to sit unrecovered. design for Decomposition leverages the advancements in biomaterials, specifically compostable and biodegradable bioplastics, to propose designing products that decompose. Not only is the process to make these materials non-toxic, but they also benefit from the ability to be calibrated for decomposition using water, heat, or natural additives. Designing for decomposition could significantly reduce the waste stream by allowing consumers to compost old products, and manufacturers to harvest valuable minerals and components for reuse at the product’s end-of-life. This project focuses on e-waste and argues that product housing decomposition, allowing for component reuse, is a product’s first and primary function.
Brandon LeNoir
Project description
supporting circularity
design for Decomposition's underlying philosophy draws on the Circular Economy, and argues that we should be considering a product’s end-of-life before all else. where the Circular Economy is criticized for its ambiguity, design for Decomposition seeks to provide detail for how material and products can achieve circularity. below is an overview of the methodology, demonstrating how a designer or manufacturer might create a d/D compliant product.
please visit the d/D website via the link above for more information.
d/D methodology
biomaterial experimentation
studio materials (sM) are biomaterials that can be made in a household kitchen using standard cooking equipment. a thinking through making method was used to validate the d/D concept using these materials; identified for their ability to decompose when exposed to heat or water. the images below show various types of bioplastics that can be made from gelatin, starch, and agar.
bioplastics samples
LED table lamp designed to decompose
how does one design a d/D compliant product? this LED table lamp was designed to validate the d/D methodology with the intent that, post-use, the lamp body could be dissolved in order to harvest the LED, wire, and components for reuse. The following is a step by step of the process, beginning with the most important element, does the bioplastic material decompose?
d/D validation process
Brandon LeNoir
