These days, the cell phone – persistent as it is – doesn’t always ring twice. Comprising a good chunk of the two million electronic products Americans throw away each year, the cell phone resonates with its own extinction. But University of Missouri-Rolla researcher Venkata Allada hopes to change that. Allada is working to give cell phones, computers and other electronic products a second, third, or even fourth life. 
These days, the cell phone – persistent as it is – doesn’t always ring twice. Comprising a good chunk of the two million electronic products Americans throw away each year, the cell phone resonates with its own extinction. But University of Missouri-Rolla researcher Venkata Allada hopes to change that. Allada is working to give cell phones, computers and other electronic products a second, third, or even fourth life.
Through “sustainable product development," Allada believes companies can reduce the amount of electronic waste on a “systems level" – that is, at the production line – by designing products that can be easily disassembled for reuse, recycling or servicing once they reach “end-of-life usefulness."
Currently, only about 25 percent of the natural resources that go into the manufacturing process come out as goods and services; the remaining 75 percent is waste, says Allada. By studying various products already being remanufactured or designed for ease of disassembly – such as single-use cameras, printer toner cartridges, automobile engines and household appliances – Allada hopes to develop design guidelines companies can use for a wide range of products.
Allada has been working in the field of industrial ecology for more than seven years. His research is currently supported by an AT&T Industrial Ecology Faculty Fellowship.
A growing environmental threat
According to Allada, discarded products are a growing environmental threat. The National Safety Council reports that about 63.3 million desktop computers were discarded in 2002, and 85 percent of them ended up in landfills across the country. By 2007, the National Recycling Coalition estimates nearly 500 million computers – almost two computers for each person in the United States – will become obsolete. According to a 2000 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) report, only about 9 percent of discarded electronic material is recycled or reclaimed for reuse in manufacturing; the rest contributes to the lead, cadmium and mercury contamination in the nation’s soils. Television and computer monitors contain about four pounds of lead, and the leading source of mercury in municipal waste is consumer electronics, according to the EPA.
One of the goals of this research is what Allada calls “product platforming." This involves looking at how products evolve in order to create more standardized designs and parts. This platforming would result in products that can communicate easily with other products, across manufacturers. For example, the telephone has evolved from a stand-alone product to one that must communicate with computers, faxes, and copiers. “What’s important in product fitness isn’t the individual product, but the whole system," Allada says. “To talk about sustainability, you have to look at the interaction among products."
Allada’s efforts are focused on “mechanical and electro-mechanical consumer products, such as computers, engines, printers, coffee makers, lawn mowers, etc. The design guidelines are general enough to be applied to a large group of such products."
Product “sustainability" carries with it the theory that because products were made by humans, they have human characteristics. “Sustainability is group behavior," Allada says. Allada’s research suggests that all products can reach a higher level of existence, so to speak, whereby they are all working and communicating in the most efficient, cost-effective and environmentally friendly ways.
It sounds great, but to make it all work, companies must be willing to put in place an infrastructure that supports product development, service, and disassembly. Any kind of product or part standardization is difficult, according to Allada, because of the proprietary issues involved. Further, companies can only remanufacture products if the process is economical. “In order to reuse parts or recycle them, they have to be disassembled. … Disassembly is usually done manually, resulting in higher labor costs.
The idea is how to design products that are easy to disassemble," says Allada. In a perfect world, many products can be reused, Allada says, but product cost and customer satisfaction have to be considered. “I do not think that it is suitable for all products. The bottom line is that reuse (or remanufactured products) has to make sense – in satisfying the customer needs in terms of product functionality, as well as cost."
Remanufacturing can give consumers the satisfaction of contributing to a cleaner environment, but also the possibility of longer-lasting and cheaper products in the future. Some consumers might even be able to use remanufactured products. For example, in areas where technology is less advanced, people could use outdated computers that have been remanufactured, says Allada. This research may also make products like cars easier to service, saving the consumer money on labor.
A world designed for product sustainability is one that can only survive with the right economic and environmental keys in place, says Allada. “This process not only has to be environmentally sound, but economically sound for companies," he says.
Ultimately, this research may revolutionize the way we create and think about the products we use, and with this knowledge, we can stay ahead of our own technology.
Here's something that is so easy and makes so much sense. Everyone will pretty much need to purchase cartridges so...I came across information through a business customer and looked further into it. Here is what I found, "
Over 700 million cartridges were thrown away world-wide in 2003 - and since more and more people use inkjet cartridges this amount will continue to grow year after year.
Empty cartridges contain residual toner powder, ink, a plastic casing, aluminum and other parts. These parts are all non-biodegradable and they will take more than 1000 years to decompose in landfill sites.
The remanufacturing of cartridges as an alternative to producing new ones currently reduces world demand of oil by 300,000 barrels and saves 17,000 tons of aluminum as well as 10,000,000 tons of timber. Besides helping to reduce carbon emissions, a major cause of global warming, it conserves resources and reduces waste.
1.5 pints of crude oil are needed to produce one cartridge. In the last 6 months alone inkjet cartridge recycling has saved more than 50 million liters of oil, more than the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska's Prince William Sound in 1989."
Wow, so my whole point is this client twotonellc.com remanufacturers ink and toner cartridges and considering the above information it only makes common sense to buy remanufactured ink and toner cartridges. You save money, get a higher yield (more prints) and save the environment.