ABS
Justification : Acylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) was selected for some Made To Manufacture (MTM) components because it is durable, affordable, light weight and injection mould friendly.
Technical Implications : ABS is non-biodegradable, meaning that the product could add to our growing landfill problem at the end of its life time. It is however recyclable, as it can be melted down and used for injection moulding a second time. Keeping this in mind, the product was designed for easy disassembly. The entirety of the design can be broken down using nothing but a screw driver and no glue is used in manufacturing.
Acrylic Plastic
Justification : Acrylic plastic was chosen for some MTM components because it is affordable, tough, light, and laser cut friendly. As it is a synthetic, Acrylic Plastics can be re used. This is a made accessible by the products design for disassembly.
Technical Implications : Unfortunately, acrylics challenging recycling process can lead to waste materials affecting flora and fauna ecosystems (Sustainability Energy, 2020). Production of acrylic can also produce harmful fumes.
Alternatives : Polycarbonates are a great alternative to acrylic plastic. They are cheaper, readily available, reliable, and adaptable to a variety of functions (Sustainability Energy, 2020). Unfortunately, Polycarbonates can only be laser cut using very thin sheets <1mm. The thinnest MTM parts in Oltó’s assembly is 3mm, so polycarbonates cannot be used.
Stainless Steel
Justification : Stainless Steel is used for traditional fire extinguishers. Oltó used Stainless Steel to transfer feelings of trust that consumers have developed towards existing fire extinguishers. Stainless steel also has an attractive appearance and can withstand high temperatures. The screws used to assemble Oltó are also made from steel.
Environmental Impact : Steel is the most recycled material in the world. Magnetic extraction can also remove steel from domestic waste. The material covers a vast percentage of Oltó’s body in an attempt to make the product as recyclable as possible.
Conclusion
Throughout the design process, careful consideration was made to make Oltó as environmentally friendly as possible. This includes designing for easy disassembly, using no glue and standard metric screws.
For some components, practicality of manufacturing techniques was more critical than sustainability, but these components were kept to a minimum size and avoided where possible. I would critically argue that because Oltó is a life saving device, minimal flaws in its sustainability can be justified.
The Oltó is mostly recyclable, affordable and readily available to manufacture now, making the material selection process a success.
