Designed future
with companies worldwide competing to bring out ecofriendly products, India is also not far behind, given the increasing consumer awareness levels. In an effort to promote the use of such products, the Indian Institute of Technology ( iit )-Delhi in collaboration with Delft University of Technology ( dut ), the Netherlands, and ineti of Portugal has launched the European Commission-funded Indian European Ecodesign Programme ( ieep ). The programme includes sharing knowledge among professionals, companies and universities in Europe and Asia. Development of ecoproducts will also be included in the programme.
Ecodesign is redesigning of products while taking environmental aspects into consideration and simultaneously balancing the economic as well as ecological requirements of the product. "Indian automakers, for instance, have to be told to encourage the use of recyclable products.
As of now, unlike European countries, they have no interest in taking them back once they are sold,' says G V Soumitri, associate professor, Instrument Design and Development Centre, iit. ieep is trying to force them into using more recyclable materials. "We are working on making Maruti Zen car 80 per cent recyclable,' he says. Cars may be easy to put together, but dismantling is a difficult process and most Indian companies are unable to do so, he adds. In the end, they are just junked.
Says Jan Carel Diehl, who is also a member of the programme, "Some countries in Europe have followed the buy back scheme for vehicles, we intend to fulfil it throughout Europe by 2001. India should also adopt the same practice in order to reduce costs.'
Ecodesign is all about making further development sustainable. It means better products, less waste, more efficiency, and reduction in pollution and use of raw material. Soumitri believes 30 to 50 per cent of the environmental load could be reduced through ecodesigning. For example, a traditional press iron can save 80 per cent energy compared to the electrical ones, he says.
Proponents of ecodesign believe it is a
Related Content
- Adapting zero-emission vehicle incentives for a mainstream market
- Better regulation for the green transition
- Report on behalf of Government of NCT of Delhi on the status of CETP/ETP/STP, 27/10/2023
- Building materials and the climate: constructing a new future
- Carbon pricing and fossil fuel subsidy rationalization tool kit
- Agrivoltaics in India: challenges and opportunities for scale-up