How does the book define sustainability in the context of product life cycles?
Sustainability is much more than what is done within the walls of a manufacturer. You must consider everything from the source of the raw materials to what happens to the product after its useful life is done.
Personally, I have at times, paid attention to what happens to something that is no longer useful, and I need to dispose of it. Many things are full of reusable materials but are very difficult to separate into separate parts that can be recycled. Some things can be separated, with some effort, but can the resulting small pieces get recycled? Small items on the recycling belt often fall though or are not picked out for recycling. Also, many materials are recyclable but there is not enough of a market to make it valuable enough to deal with. That which does not get recycled ends up buried in the landfill. And there are many things that just cannot be recycled or separated.
I have deconstructed many toys, machines, pieces of furniture, etc. (with help from the children) to recycle as much as possible. How much actually made it into the raw material stream is anyone's guess.
There is always more to learn in Creo.
