One of the issues that Product Designers face is the lack of natural resources.
The plastic industry is directly dependent on oil resources. The more plastic we use now, the fastest the oil resources will deplete and so on the less plastic products we will be able to produce. Steel and other metals also come from fossil resources extraction and the same future problems will occur. Concerning the natural resources like wood, some more policies (like i.e.: FSC and PEFC ecolabels) of careful management have to be developed in order to ensure their reliability in medium to long term.
It is to consider that some natural resources can have a worst environmental impact regarding some indicators, i.e.: the cotton needs lots of water to grow and fertilizers and pesticides are used during its culture (for intensive culture), comparing to Polyester (nylon). But these considerations are valuable if we take into account for example the impact on ecosystems; for the climate change or waste disposal impact, the use of cotton is less impacting than PE use.
How soon can manufacturers switch to other raw materials? What are the raw materials of the future? Are natural gas and biomass viable alternatives today? Or is coal about to make a comeback?
The plastic industry is directly dependent on oil resources. The more plastic we use now, the fastest the oil resources will deplete and so on the less plastic products we will be able to produce. Steel and other metals also come from fossil resources extraction and the same future problems will occur. Concerning the natural resources like wood, some more policies (like i.e.: FSC and PEFC ecolabels) of careful management have to be developed in order to ensure their reliability in medium to long term.
It is to consider that some natural resources can have a worst environmental impact regarding some indicators, i.e.: the cotton needs lots of water to grow and fertilizers and pesticides are used during its culture (for intensive culture), comparing to Polyester (nylon). But these considerations are valuable if we take into account for example the impact on ecosystems; for the climate change or waste disposal impact, the use of cotton is less impacting than PE use.
How soon can manufacturers switch to other raw materials? What are the raw materials of the future? Are natural gas and biomass viable alternatives today? Or is coal about to make a comeback?
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