Teaching modules
MMC602: Manufacturing for the Environment
Department: Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering
Manufacturing is a process of conversion. It converts materials into products using energy and creates unwanted by-products often considered as wastes.
Inevitably, therefore, manufacturing has significant impacts on the environment and those people involved in manufacture need to understand such impacts and how they might be mitigated.
This module provides students with an understanding of the issues that affect manufacturing and the environment. It considers the role of manufacture in the context of sustainable development and identifies the role of environmental legislation.
The importance of the product design process is emphasised because this determines the use of materials and processes in manufacture and thus has a fundamental influence on the environmental impacts of manufacturing.
The use of resources, such as energy and materials, is considered from the perspective of reduction; so too is waste which is considered through the opportunities for its reduction, reuse and recycling.
Finally, the module addresses the business management perspective of managing a manufacturing business to reduce its impact on the environment and promote sustainable development.
