Designing the future, not going around in circles
“Design for Circularity” challenges the status quo and requires a rethink of the way products are developed and produced. Christine Maier, Günther Ernst, Jürgen Frank and Kai Schauerte want to maximize the potential of the Rethink principle in the development and production of Audi parts. To do this, they need fellow collaborators who know how they can contribute optimally and what plan they need to follow. Guidelines and web-based training programs provide support to development departments in the company as well as knowledge about “Design for Circularity.”
The Audi design department has already developed an internal handbook on sustainable design including best practices. It describes how to use fewer resources in parts and how the installed materials can be reused for production. Detailed material-specific guidelines are to support developers in selecting more recycling-friendly materials or joining techniques – for example through the use of monomaterials, composite materials that can be separated easily or non-destructive joining techniques that simplify dismantling. A guideline and a web-based training program were created in collaboration with polymer experts on the recycling-friendly product development of plastic parts. This guideline is also binding for suppliers. Further documentation for other materials is in progress.
Moreover, the plan is to make it possible to quantify and compare the recyclability of parts and vehicles in the future. Thanks to this methodology, Audi could then optimize the recyclability of new vehicles and the parts used in them in a second step.