The Design for Tomorrow eco-index

Towards eco-responsible excellence in the manufacture of our customers’ connected objects

In 2020, Altyor launched Design for Tomorrow, an approach that aims to design eco-intelligently for responsible manufacturing. To give substance to this approach, Altyor created the Design for Tomorrow index.

Five steps to eco-responsible excellence

As an industrial manufacturer of electronic products, we encourage our customers to take eco-design into account. The Design for Tomorrow index is a positive approach, with 5 levels of progression to assess the eco-responsibility of products.

Level 01: INITIATION

This is the first step on our eco-responsibility ladder, showing our customer’s willingness to undertake an eco-design approach. At this stage, its eco-responsible choices are minimal. The product’s score is less than 50 out of 100.

Level 02: TAKE-OFF

This is the stage when the product validates certain decisive criteria. Following product analysis, the score is between 50 and 70 out of 100.

Level 03: ACCELERATION

The product is increasingly eco-committed, its strategy focused on reducing its carbon footprint. It scores between 75 and 85 out of 100.

Level 04: MATURITY

The product has reached a very important stage where it has validated the majority of eco-responsible criteria. Its score is over 80 out of 100.

Level 05: EXCELLENCE

This is the ultimate level of eco-responsibility, where the customer’s product makes every effort to reduce its environmental impact, both in its design choices and in its circular economy strategy.

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The two objectives of our eco-design index

The Design for Tomorrow index is calculated during product development and integrated into the eco-design justification file, which evaluates the product and the actions taken to improve its environmental footprint.

Helping our customers make sustainable choices and achieve eco-responsible excellence in their connected products

Create a repository applicable to all Altyor products, bringing together the Design for Tomorrow technological building blocks derived from our industrial experience.

Four major families assessed in the Design for Tomorrow index

Electronic category

Autonomy, repairability and durability of electronics
The electronics category covers several criteria relating to autonomy, repairability and durability. The rating will therefore be better if the firmware can be updated, facilitating after-sales interventions and patches at the customer’s premises, thus avoiding the creation of ‘disposable’ products as soon as a new version is released.

This category also takes into account the efforts made to limit the use of components with a high environmental impact, and to limit energy consumption. Last but not least, the MTBF (Mean Time Between Failure) is used to calculate service life.

Mechanical category

Recycled plastic, dismantlability and recyclability of mechanical parts

Eco-design in this category is linked to 3 main criteria:

– The incorporation of recycled materials, particularly plastics, to achieve significant carbon savings.

– Product demountability is analyzed to check whether dismantling is facilitated in order to set up circular economy loops.

– Recyclability will also be examined. This involves assessing the solutions implemented to simplify product recycling, such as the avoidance of overmolding, bi-material products, and the use of paint and varnish.

Packaging category

Single-material packaging for simplified end-user recyclability
This category has 3 objectives: to increase the recyclability of packaging and simplify sorting for the end user, to limit the impact of the materials used, and to limit unnecessary waste.
To achieve this, the Design for Tomorrow team will focus on designing single-material packaging, using recycled paper and cardboard, and eliminating non-essential elements.

Environmental category

Bonus points for reducing the product’s environmental footprint
Bonus points are awarded for any initiative aimed at reducing the product’s environmental footprint.
This may involve setting up a circular economy loop, implementing a self-diagnostic tool in the product to facilitate repair, or carrying out a life-cycle analysis to quantify impacts.

Eco-design justification file

Altyor eco-designs products for its customers thanks to its two mechanical and electronic design departments. Throughout the design process, the product’s eco-responsibility is assessed to ensure a reduced environmental footprint. This justification file is proof of the work carried out and includes recommendations from our Design for Tomorrow team.

It is made up of its Life Cycle Assessment, which is the environmental diagnosis of the product as a whole according to environmental indicators, and its Design for Tomorrow Index, which evaluates the product according to eco-design criteria.

This eco-design justification file is submitted and revised at 3 stages during product development:

At project initiation, with a preliminary eco-design study

On handover of prototypes with an eco-design study and recommendations

At the industrialization stage, with finalization of the report based on design choices

How can you successfully eco-design your electronic product?

Eco-design brings together all the levers for reducing a product’s environmental footprint, whether in terms of power consumption, durability, packaging or other factors. In this guide, our experts have put together 15 key points to show you the actions you can take to act effectively.

Download our guide to eco-design

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