Production in a circular economy

"Sustainable production is a main key to a sustainable society​"

You meet the results of our efforts in your everyday life - every day. From the moment you turn off the alarm clock in the morning, during breakfast and until you rush to work or school by any type of transportation. The bed, the house, the roads, the clock, the coffee, the milk carton - are all affected by our research in one way or another. We also work to ensure that you have access to fresh water. Additionally, if you work in a factory, you certainly appreciate our thoughts on ergonomics and how to industries should act in order to take care of an aging workforce.

Aware and measurable

Chalmers has a national responsibility for research and education on sustainable production. A key enabler for addressing this challenge is sustainability awareness. But how does one do to get a big group of scientists to come up with more sustainable solutions? We think like this. Instead of putting together a small group of experts on sustainability, we want to get each and every one of our dedicated researchers to reflect on: "How can I, in my research, contribute to a sustainable future?"

Why do we want to attac this issue on a broad front?​

Read more about our recipe for sustainable production.

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What does this mean for our research?

In our research, we want to ensure sound production of good products. That's why we work with research and education in production systems performance, safe and healthy workplaces, new materials, environmentally friendly manufacturing processes, and product development, taking the entire life cycle perspective into account , including the recycling process.​

The 6 R is an important checklist that can be used to reduce the environmental impact of the product. 6R stands for:

# 1 Rethink: Is there a better way to solve this problem that is less harmful to the environment?

# 2 Refuse: Not accepting things that are not the best option for the environment.

# 3 Reduse: Is it possible to reduce the amount of material used to help protect valuable resources?

# 4 Reuse: Can the product have another use? Can its parts be used in other products?

# 5 Repair: Is the product easy to repair?

# 6 Recycle: Can materials in the product be recycled and used again?

 

Grounded in a sustainable production initiative

The Sustainable Production Initiative was based on the raised level of funding for strategically important research areas appointed by the Swedish Government in the Bill “A Boost to Research and Innovation”. It was a concerted action by Chalmers and Lund University to produce leading edge knowledge for sustainable production. The initiative mobilized​ more than 100 researchers, and it was endorsed and promoted by a large number of companies in several industrial sectors. 
 
The initiative was financed during the period of 2010-2014 and the results are incorporated in and continuously run by Chalmers Production.

Published: Wed 04 Sep 2019.