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Incentivise eco-intelligent design and manufacturing principles to be prescribed in law. Externalising production costs to be outlawed as unfair competition and fraud.

As a great period of social and economic change, beginning in the 18th century, industrialisation has transformed our previous agrarian societies to economies focussed on streamlined design and mass-product manufacturing. Now ‘business-as-usual’ is understood to mean a linear model of production, ‘designing for landfill,’ which continues to drain our planet of large quantities of rare earth metals and non-renewable resources at an unsustainable rate.

Currently 90% of the raw materials used in the manufacturing process become waste before the product even leaves the factory. Then, 80% of these products are thrown away within the first six months of purchase. Many contain components which constitute hazardous waste, prioritising short-term consumption demand over long term considerations of health and environment.

Companies need to fundamentally rethink the design and manufacturing of their products. By offering incentives to companies, via the implementation of ecologically intelligent policy, they can strive to meet new industry standards that would be rewarded in the marketplace. Such standards can yield a turning point in the patterns of energy and resource demand. Through the usage of circular economy processes, manufacturers can implement more effective long-term planning strategies of energy and material consumption, increasing productivity, as well as reducing operating costs.

Incentivising eco-intelligent design approaches into our current systems of production and manufacturing as future-just policies is crucial to decoupling natural resource use and environmental impact from economic growth. Products must no longer harm us, but actually improve our health and environment. Employing ecologically intelligent design and production will foster biodiversity, contribute to the stabilisation of climate change, and promote renewable energy, all to the benefit of future generations.