Part 2: Mapping the Lifecycle of a Product

Created by participating STEM and Business faculty from Bentley, Northern Illinois, and Wittenberg Universities

Initial Publication Date: September 29, 2022

Summary

As individuals, we may vary in how much waste we produce and how we dispose of it, but it should be apparent that none of us produce zero waste. This activity explores the lifecycle of a specific product through the key phases which include: extraction, production, retail, consumption, and disposal. Working in groups, students conduct research on an assigned phase of the lifecycle for a product. Using both written and visual representations, students then create a poster to display their findings about this phase of the process. This poster will be used in class during the gallery tour.

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Learning Goals

After completing the module, students will be able to:

Identify ways in which currently linear aspects of our economic system shape your own behaviors and norms;
Explain a sustainable "circular economy" from systems perspective;
Identify how human and natural systems may affect each other in a circular economy; and
Evaluate the implications on the environment and on social, health, and economic equity of a linear and a circular economy.

During this activity, students will:

Collectively create a process map of the lifecycle of a product.
Examine an existing product for potential ways to optimize efficiency and minimize inequities.

Context for Use

This activity is Part 2 of a three-part module designed to cover approximately 1-2 weeks of class time (~ 3 50-minute class periods with pre-work for each module), depending on how the module is implemented with respect to in-class and outside-of-class work. While the module was designed with face-to-face interactions in mind, it can be adapted for remote learning, with various asynchronous and synchronous options. The module can be used in any undergraduate course and can be tailored to the level of the students. This activity is intended as a group exercise but can be done individually.

Description and Teaching Materials

To help introduce students to the concept of a linear versus a circular economy, students are asked to help collaboratively create a process map of the lifecycle of a product.

A process map is a visual representation that illustrates the key phases in the lifecycle of a product. The key processes associated with each phase include:

Extraction ‐ collecting, extracting, and processing of raw materials for the production of goods
Production ‐ creating goods from raw materials for sale
Retail ‐selling goods for consumption
Consumption ‐ purchasing and use of goods
Disposal ‐throwing away or getting rid of used goods
- Landfill/garbage
- Reuse/recycle

To introduce the process mapping exercise, instructors could illustrate the process using as an example one of the discarded waste items that a number of students identified from their waste audit. If that item was landfilled, introduce the process map by working backward. The process map for a plastic bottle would look like the linear economy of plastic presented in The Story of Plastic. To work backward, the instructor could ask a series of questions to develop the process map for the item, including the following: How was it used? Where was it purchased? How was it made? Who made it? What raw materials were required to make it? Where did they come from?

Details of the process map should be evident during the demonstration. For example, by knowing where it was made, purchased, and disposed of, the fuel required for transportation can be discussed as part of the carbon footprint, with links made to climate. These can be added to the process map as boxes and arrows pointing to or from the production, retail, or consumption boxes. Knowing what it is made of allows for details to be added to extraction and production boxes of the process map. The idea here is not to fully develop the process map, but to introduce it and to begin the discussion about its complexity.

End this illustration with a brainstorming session on points in the process map where its linear parts can be looped back to make it more circular. You might start with recycling. If something is recycled, where does it re‐enter the process map? At one or more points? What are the benefits or costs associated with its re‐entry at that box? For the process boxes before and after?

Instructors then provide a common product (relatable to most students) to study its lifecycle. Suggested products include:

Cotton T‐Shirt
Chocolate
Smart phone

Process Map (outside of class)

Groups are assigned or self‐select a phase, or box, in the product's lifecycle. (For large classes, multiple groups may be assigned the same box.) Each group conducts research on their phase and develops a poster displaying the findings from their research. Prompts are provided to students to help guide their research:

What are the processes used in this phase of the lifecycle? Be sure to include notes around technologies used and timing of processes.
What resources (e.g., natural, human, physical) are used and how are they used?
What is the human element? That is, how are humans involved in the activities and how they impacted (positively or negatively)?
What is the impact on the natural environment (e.g., water, land/soil, energy, climate)?
What policies (local, state, federal, global) inform the processes and resources utilized in this phase?
How do the materials/outcomes from your phase move to the next phase in the lifecycle? What are the impacts of this?

Posters should include activities, processes, resources used and impacted, policies related to the phase, etc. These can include both written and visual representations of the research.