BATHROOMS: ANALYSIS
MAKE DO AND MEND? W
How should the bathroom industry respond to the circular economy?
ith the launch of BS 8001, the first national standard on implementing Circular Economy (CE) principles, the
time has come for bathroom manufacturers to stand up and be counted. Martin Charter, founding director of the Centre for Sustainable Design at the Univerity for Creative Arts (UCA) and current Professor of Innovation and Sustainability at UCA is working with global shower and tapware manufacturer, Methven UK, on a consultancy basis.
CE impact
“Much has been made about the CE and the impact it will have on businesses” Charter says. “The principles behind it are to put processes, products and new business models in place to contribute to a resource efficient, low-carbon economy. In the absence of legislation, some industries have been noticeably slow to adopt these principles.”
The BS 8001 was developed by the British Standards Institution as a guidance standard to help companies integrate and introduce CE into their business and enable them to take practical action to realise business benefits as well as safeguarding the environment. Charter explains that the standard is the first of its kind and, after more than two years in development, hopes are high that it will become the basis of an international standard that allows the benefits of CE to be felt worldwide. “There has already been international interest in the standard from companies in the US and Singapore, as well as the standards bodies of both Sweden and the Netherlands” he says.
Business at its core
Many of the clauses were piloted by businesses, including the likes of M&S and Kingfisher, as part of the process of developing the standard. “Methven represented the bathroom industry, along with other pilot organisations, and tested the content and structure of BS 8001’s core clauses through a series of pilot sessions- specifically clause 4 on the principles of the circular economy and clause 5 on putting the principles into practice.”
Charter says that Methven focussed on the issue of wastage in the social housing and hotel industries, where best practice and legionella
August 2018
www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net
policies recommend replacing shower handsets and hoses on an annual basis. It is piloting a cleaning and replacement scheme with various housing associations, which has reduced waste, reduced cost by 42% and ensured compliance with legionella regulations.
He says: “For organisations in the bathroom industry, the standard helps them look at products or processes one at a time. Opportunities for them to consider include: • Looking to create products that are more circular by designing them to be upgradeable through modular design.
• Changing from selling to leasing business models through take-back of products to enable refurbishment and remanufacturing. “The design phase is vital as it is where 80% of the environmental impact comes into consideration, so the industry needs to
look to design with repair, maintenance, remanufacture and upgrading in mind, as well as looking at how individual parts could potentially be harvested.”
Environmental impact The biggest consideration for the bathroom industry will continue to be water and energy consumption, rather than the materials themselves Charter believes.
“
The design phase is vital as it’s where 80% of the environmental impact comes into consideration...
”
“The ErPDirective, which aims to help the EU achieve its energy reduction targets, will become more prominent and its scope will cover showers and taps, requiring manufacturers to adopt standards in development to enable upgrade, repair and re- use of energy-related products” he says. “The issue of water scarcity will also remain ubiquitous and, as regulation is tightened, water metering becomes more common and water prices increase, it will become a key consideration for consumers and, consequently, bathroom manufacturers.
“All of these issues feed into CE and the need for careful product design. In addition to energy and water efficiencies, one of the biggest challenges for the bathroom industry is product circularity” he continues. “While a full bathroom replacement is not a regular occurrence, there are a number of products and components that are replaced more frequently, such as showers. Currently these are largely disposed of. What the bathroom industry needs to be aware of are the business opportunities around repair, refurbishment and recycling.”
Charter says that, in general, this goes back to the original design, manufacturing and reverse logistics processes, as well as straightforward protocols and services that allow for repair and recycling to take place without placing extra burden on the industry. “For manufacturers, the need to find solutions to this issue may well be driven by supply chain pressures as component and materials suppliers come under their own pressures. Regardless, there is no doubt that CE thinking is gaining momentum and becoming increasingly difficult for industry to ignore. The launch of BS 8001 is the clearest indication to date that the subject is making its way up the news agenda and won’t be going away. BMJ
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