The life of a product: from raw material to rubbish (or not)

Every product has a life story. It starts as raw materials in the ground, a forest or an oil well, and ends in a landfill, a recycling plant or, if it's well designed, as something new.

The six stages

Life cycle analysis

A life cycle analysis adds up a product's impact at every stage. Sometimes the surprise is where the biggest impact is. For a fridge, it's the electricity it uses over 15 years. For a cheap plastic toy, it might be the making and the rubbish.

Planned obsolescence

Some products are designed to wear out, go out of fashion or be impossible to repair, so we buy another. That's called planned obsolescence. Glued-in batteries and parts you can't buy are signs of it. Good designers do the opposite: they use screws instead of glue, standard parts and materials that last.

A circular economy

In a linear economy we take, make and throw away. In a circular economy materials keep going round: products are repaired, shared, remade and recycled. In Aotearoa, some companies already turn used plastic drink bottles back into new food packaging.

Design to last

Charles and Ray Eames spent years testing moulded plywood in the 1940s to make chairs that were comfortable, strong and simple to produce. Many of those chairs are still being used today, around 80 years later. A design that lasts is one of the most sustainable choices you can make.