Design for Disassembly: This Old Idea is the Wave of the Future

The quick and intuitive disassembly of my French press means that I can easily clean it and replace or recycle its parts as needed. The stats feel tired at this point: the EPA tells us that over 10 million tons of furniture are taken to US landfills each year, and more than 2 thousand tons of major appliances will be tossed onto the heap in 2021 alone. As product designers, this can lead us straight to an existential fever dream, imagining Victor Papanek whispering in our ear: "There are...