Theoretical Study for Redesign of an Agricultural Package Applying Ecodesign Strategies and Cad/Cae Tools

Abstract

Plastic waste derived from the packaging industry currently represents an important environmental problem. Therefore, it is necessary for product designers and engineers to become aware of this fact and seek to incorporate the environmental vector when designing, redesigning, and developing containers and packaging, so that they are more sustainable and eco-effectiveness. Starting from this premise, the following objectives have been proposed in this work: (1) study and identification of possible Ecodesign strategies to apply to an existing agricultural package (model used in the collection and distribution of fruit and vegetable products); (2) to propose a redesign of the package studied, applying the information and knowledge obtained previously; (3) comparative analysis between the existing (commercial) package and the redesign proposal developed. In order to respond to this approach, work has been carried out with CAD/CAE tools (SolidWorks 3D CADTM software). The results obtained from the case study developed in this work indicate that the application of CAD/CAE tools supported by the proposed Ecodesign strategies can be a very useful and effective instrument in the design and development of this type of packaging, for practical application in the agro-food and packaging industry, which can facilitate in the short to medium term the transition to a circular economy model, based on the "Cradle to Cradle" concept.

El bambú Tonkin (Pseudosasa amabilis) como material a explorar en el Ecodiseño. El diseño de un puesto de mercado como caso de estudio

“…Este enfoque de Eco-Rediseño está cada vez más interiorizado en la ingeniería del diseño (Brezet y Silvester 2004). En el caso de este trabajo, se siguió con un enfoque similar al desarrollado por Pérez-Ortega et al (2021), es decir incluye en un mismo flujo de trabajo "herramientas CAD-CAE" y "estrategias de Ecodiseño", proponiendo la incorporación de un material con menos impacto medioambiental (i.e., el bambú Tonkin).…”

Literature Review by Scientometric Methods on the Impact of the Circular Economy on Sustainable Industrial Products

“…Starting from this premise, in their paper, the authors of [30] discussed the implementation and exploration of the possibilities and limitations of CAD/CAE tools in eco-design for an agricultural package, the redesign of the studied package, and a comparative analysis of the existing (commercial) package and the redesign proposal developed.…”

“…Analyzing the possibilities and limitations of implementing and exploring CAD/CAE tools in the eco-design of a package [30], we can state that they offer a wide range of helpful solutions for designers.…”

Analysis of the perception and presence of design in the fruit and vegetable cluster: The case of southeast Spain

“…For example, in the life cycle assessment (LCA) of the production and marketing of fruit and vegetables, packaging represents the most significant overall impact and is related to environmental problems that arise from the generation of plant and industrial waste, such as plastics (Galdeano-Gómez et al 2013). Hence the need for greater literacy in this area involves ecoconscious product designers and engineers to design, redesign and develop more sustainable eco-efficient packaging (Pérez-Ortega et al 2021). Research suggests opening innovation networks like incorporating design theories into agriculture to foster sustainable transitions and to improve current agricultural models from a socio-environmental viewpoint (Prost et al 2017;Berthet et al 2018).…”