MoreThanWaste.com - Maintaining Products in Use (18/05/2007)

The "throwaway society" is a familiar concept to most of us today and issues relating to the life span of products have received very little attention to date. But this is about to change.

The Network on Product Life Spans (NPLS) aims to address this by improving understanding of issues relating to product durability and product life extension. The intention is for increased knowledge to be used to promote the technological and behavioural changes necessary for sustainable development.

End of life WEEE containers at Newport

Many consumer durables are discarded after a relatively short period of use, hindering progress towards sustainable consumption patterns. The question raised by the Network is, “Is it possible to create a society in which products are carefully kept in order to prolong their lives?”

Looking after products, whether by cleaning, polishing, fixing, darning, stitching, tinkering or repairing seems to require too much time, trouble or expense in this rapidly moving society.

Products subject to technological advance become quickly dated or out of fashion. Can anything more could be done to extend the life span of products through repair, maintenance and upgrading? Can central and local government, industry, campaigners or consumers help to enable this.

Maintaining Products in Use – 20 September

An event is being held at Sheffield to debate the issue of extending the life span of products, in September and papers for presentation are currently being called for by the NPLS.

"Is it possible to create a society in which products are carefully kept in order to prolong their lives?"

The event is multidisciplinary and will deal essentially with household products, including clothing and footwear, domestic appliances, vehicles, consumer electronics, furniture, floor coverings, musical instruments, sports equipment, jewellery, clocks and house-wares.

The organisation is inviting proposals for oral paper presentations, posters and workshop sessions including on:

After-sales services - prospects for the future
Professional skills and knowledge for repair and maintenance
Technological advance and design for upgradeability
Cycles in fashion and style
The regulation of second hand goods
Retailing for reuse - antiques, second hand stores, car boot sales and e-bay
Footwear design and repairability
Furniture restoration
Repair diagnosis
Stain removal
Fixing and tinkering in the home
Cleaning and polishing in the home
Sewing, darning and the maintenance of clothing
The community re-use sector
Guarantees and warranties
The physical and aesthetic degradation of materials

The Network on Life Spans

The Network on Product Life Spans, which is being funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) from 2004-2008, is especially aimed at manufacturers, retailers, designers, marketing managers, researchers, sustainability experts, and public policy specialists with an interest in consumer or environmental policy.

Co-ordination of the Network is undertaken by the Centre for Sustainable Consumption, Sheffield Hallam University.

NPLS says that the aims of the network are to increase knowledge and understanding of issues relating to the life span of consumer durables and to encourage innovative research projects and collaboration between industrial and academic partners.

The development of the Network is aimed to result in the formation of a new interdisciplinary research community focused on research relating to product durability and product life extension.

Further information

Potential contributors should send an Abstract of up to 500 words describing the objective(s) and conclusions of the study or project and, where appropriate, the methods and results.

Submissions may report on original research projects or take the form of exploratory papers. The Network says that industry sector case studies are especially welcome.

Deadline for Abstracts: Friday 15th June.

Notification of acceptance / rejection: Friday 29th June.

Submissions should be sent to
k.garnett@shu.ac.uk
Telephone: +44 (0) 114 225 4582
Fax: +44 (0) 114 225 5036
CSC website: http://research.shu.ac.uk/csc/index.html
Network website: http://extra.shu.ac.uk/productlife/


	Maintaining Products in Use (18/05/2007) The "throwaway society" is a familiar concept to most of us today and issues relating to the life span of products have received very little attention to date. But this is about to change. The Network on Product Life Spans (NPLS) aims to address this by improving understanding of issues relating to product durability and product life extension. The intention is for increased knowledge to be used to promote the technological and behavioural changes necessary for sustainable development. End of life WEEE containers at Newport Many consumer durables are discarded after a relatively short period of use, hindering progress towards sustainable consumption patterns. The question raised by the Network is, “Is it possible to create a society in which products are carefully kept in order to prolong their lives?” Looking after products, whether by cleaning, polishing, fixing, darning, stitching, tinkering or repairing seems to require too much time, trouble or expense in this rapidly moving society. Products subject to technological advance become quickly dated or out of fashion. Can anything more could be done to extend the life span of products through repair, maintenance and upgrading? Can central and local government, industry, campaigners or consumers help to enable this. Maintaining Products in Use – 20 September An event is being held at Sheffield to debate the issue of extending the life span of products, in September and papers for presentation are currently being called for by the NPLS. "Is it possible to create a society in which products are carefully kept in order to prolong their lives?" The event is multidisciplinary and will deal essentially with household products, including clothing and footwear, domestic appliances, vehicles, consumer electronics, furniture, floor coverings, musical instruments, sports equipment, jewellery, clocks and house-wares. The organisation is inviting proposals for oral paper presentations, posters and workshop sessions including on: After-sales services - prospects for the future Professional skills and knowledge for repair and maintenance Technological advance and design for upgradeability Cycles in fashion and style The regulation of second hand goods Retailing for reuse - antiques, second hand stores, car boot sales and e-bay Footwear design and repairability Furniture restoration Repair diagnosis Stain removal Fixing and tinkering in the home Cleaning and polishing in the home Sewing, darning and the maintenance of clothing The community re-use sector Guarantees and warranties The physical and aesthetic degradation of materials The Network on Life Spans The Network on Product Life Spans, which is being funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) from 2004-2008, is especially aimed at manufacturers, retailers, designers, marketing managers, researchers, sustainability experts, and public policy specialists with an interest in consumer or environmental policy. Co-ordination of the Network is undertaken by the Centre for Sustainable Consumption, Sheffield Hallam University. NPLS says that the aims of the network are to increase knowledge and understanding of issues relating to the life span of consumer durables and to encourage innovative research projects and collaboration between industrial and academic partners. The development of the Network is aimed to result in the formation of a new interdisciplinary research community focused on research relating to product durability and product life extension. Further information Potential contributors should send an Abstract of up to 500 words describing the objective(s) and conclusions of the study or project and, where appropriate, the methods and results. Submissions may report on original research projects or take the form of exploratory papers. The Network says that industry sector case studies are especially welcome. Deadline for Abstracts: Friday 15th June. Notification of acceptance / rejection: Friday 29th June. Submissions should be sent to k.garnett@shu.ac.uk Telephone: +44 (0) 114 225 4582 Fax: +44 (0) 114 225 5036 CSC website: http://research.shu.ac.uk/csc/index.html Network website: http://extra.shu.ac.uk/productlife/