Category: Materials and the Environment: Eco-Informed Material Choice

Data precision: recalibrating expectations

The engineering properties of materials—their mechanical, thermal, and electrical attributes—are well characterized. They are measured with sophis­ticated equipment according to internationally accepted standards and are reported in widely accessible handbooks and databases. They are not exact, but their precision—when it matters—is reported; many are known into three-figure accuracy, some to more. A pedigree like this […]

The consequences

The burden this legislation places on the materials and manufacturing industries is considerable. The requirements are far-reaching: ■ Documentation of the use of any one of 30,000 listed chemicals ■ Analysis of energy and material use in all energy-using products ■ Finding substitutes for VOCs and other restricted substances ■ Mandatory take-back, disassembly, and acceptable […]

Economic instruments: taxes and trading schemes

"Economic instruments manipulate market forces to influence the behav­iour of consumers and manufacturers in ways that are more subtle and effective than conventional controls, and they generally do so at lower cost."[20] Well, that’s the idea. Taxation, one "economic instrument," might not strike you as subtle,[21] but it does seem to work better than "command […]