Towards cleaner production: a roadmap for predicting product end-of-life costs at early design concept

The primary objective of the research was to investigate how disposal costs were being incurred in the domain of defence electronic systems by the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) and subsequently to ascertain a novel approach to prediction of their end-of-life (EOL) costs. It is intended that the OEM could utilise this method as part of a full lifecycle cost analysis at the conceptual design stage. The cost model would also serve as a useful guide to aid decision making at the conceptual design stage, so that it may lead to the design of a more sustainable product in terms of recycling, refurbishment or remanufacture with the consideration of financial impact. The novelty of this research is that it identifies the significance of disposal costs from the viewpoint of the OEM and provides a generic basis for evaluation of all the major EOL defence electronic systems. A roadmap has been proposed and developed to facilitate the prediction of disposal costs and this will be used to determine a satisfactory solution of whether the EOL parts of a defence electronic system are viable to be remanufactured, refurbished or recycled from an early stage of a design concept. A selected defence electronic system is used as a case study. Based on the findings, the proposed method offers a manageable and realistic solution so that the OEM can estimate the cost of potential EOL recovery processes at the concept design stage. (C) 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.