{"id":8848,"date":"2026-02-06T14:28:17","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T13:28:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/its-owl.de\/?post_type=news&p=8848"},"modified":"2026-02-06T15:15:03","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T14:15:03","slug":"transparency-as-a-lever-for-miele-sustainability-is-an-integral-part-of-good-engineering","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/its-owl.de\/en\/news-events\/news\/transparency-as-a-lever-for-miele-sustainability-is-an-integral-part-of-good-engineering\/","title":{"rendered":"Transparency as a Lever: For Miele, Sustainability is an Integral Part of Good Engineering"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

In many development projects, a product’s sustainability is determined during the early development phase. It is precisely at this stage that the necessary transparency is often lacking: which materials and joining techniques result in lower carbon dioxide equivalents (CO\u2082e)? How can the level of circularity be increased without undermining functional, mechanical or economic requirements? For Miele, the focus was therefore on making clear early on where the major levers lie \u2013 not with an excess of technical detail, but with clear guidance that may be integrated into everyday development and enables robust decisions across the entire lifecycle.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

This motivation is decisive for the Sustainable Lifecycle Engineering (SLE) project: moving away from gut feeling, towards consolidated knowledge about the impacts of design and engineering decisions \u2013 particularly regarding materials and joining techniques as key factors for repairability and recyclability.<\/p>\n

Existing Miele Design Guidelines and Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) were compared with SLE solution approaches developed jointly in the SLE consortium and consolidated on the basis of a compact, practice-oriented recommendation for sustainable product development.<\/p>\n

Five fields of action for sustainable product development<\/h2>\n

Five fields of action were derived that reflect the Miele sustainability strategy: user-oriented sustainability, longevity, repairability, energy and efficiency optimisation, as well as sustainable material selection.<\/p>\n

“It was important to us that we do not take decisions away from people, but enable them \u2013 with clear transparency on CO\u2082e and circularity right from the concept phase.”<\/p>\n

Max Wagner, Director Sustainability Miele<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The aim is for developers to be able to assess early on which choice \u2013 for example recycled material vs. virgin material \u2013 is the best option from a sustainability perspective, while simultaneously considering physical, mechanical and economic requirements. The recommendation is intended as a ‘soft’ guideline: it provides context and guidance without pre-empting decisions.<\/p>\n

“It was important to us that we do not take decisions away from people, but enable them \u2013 with clear transparency on CO\u2082e and circularity right from the concept phase”, says Max Wagner, Director Sustainability Miele.<\/p>\n

Identify high-impact components in a targeted manner<\/h2>\n

Within the field of action ‘sustainable material selection’, both existing and future products are examined with regard to CO\u2082e and circularity levels. Particular attention is paid to high-impact components (in terms of their influence on CO\u2082e and circularity levels, not impact toughness): assemblies whose material and design choices significantly influence the environmental footprint and circularity.<\/p>\n

Through an in-house development, these large-lever components can be automatically identified, and CO\u2082e reduction potential can be specifically determined while prescribing defined properties, e.g. Young’s modulus, tensile strength or density, for a constant component volume.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Figure: CO\u2082e reduction potential of selected materials compared to base material ABS-GF20, taking into account defined input parameters at constant volume (including Young’s modulus > 1 GPa, tensile strength > 20 MPa, density > 0.8 g\/cm\u00b3).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Results and Benefits<\/h2>\n

From the interplay of SLE knowledge, Miele guidelines and LCA data, a tangible development recommendation has emerged that combines sustainability with engineering reality. It accelerates the assessment of key questions \u2013 such as when comparing recycled and virgin materials \u2013 whilst simultaneously highlighting typical trade-offs: mechanical properties, processability, costs, quality variations.<\/p>\n

“Transparency on CO\u2082e and circularity across the entire lifecycle, even at component and sub-component level, is enormously helpful in identifying high-impact levers.”<\/p>\n

Christian Neese, Project Manager Miele<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A possible result is simplified material diagrams, for plastics for example, which systematise the selection process. They visualise where recycled materials save CO\u2082e compared with virgin material and how circularity levels change \u2013 including guidance on joining techniques that support disassembly, repairability and recyclability.<\/p>\n

“Transparency on CO\u2082e and circularity across the entire lifecycle, even at component and sub-component level, is enormously helpful in identifying high-impact levers”, says Christian Neese, Project Manager Miele.<\/p>\n

Design for Circularity in Practice<\/h2>\n

As a showcase, the Miele design study VOOPER, a circular cordless vacuum cleaner, illustrates how ‘Design for Circularity’ may look in practice: joining concepts, modular construction and material decisions work in unison to increase circularity and longevity. The VOOPER was presented at IFA 2024 and serves in the showroom as a conversation starter and learning object.<\/p>\n

Transfer to processes and scaling<\/h2>\n

The next step is scaling into practice: the recommendation and material overviews will be integrated into standard workflows, early-phase reviews and training formats. In parallel, the data foundation will be expanded \u2013 CO\u2082e, circularity, ease-of-disassembly ratings, recycled content proportions, typical quality variations and cost trajectories \u2013 to further refine comparisons. Further pilot projects across different product groups will deepen insights, for example on ease of disassembly versus service life or recycled content versus mechanical performance.<\/p>\n

Guidelines for circular product design<\/h2>\n

In the spirit of Design for Circularity, specific guardrails will be refined: preferred joining techniques (e.g. mechanical (screw\/plug) rather than adhesive bonding), modular architectures, defined dismantling pathways and spare parts strategies that enhance repairability. Complementary metrics for impact measurement will be developed \u2013 CO\u2082e reduction per appliance, circularity levels, repair rates, material recovery rates \u2013 alongside regular monitoring.<\/p>\n

Miele establishes the foundation for knowledge-based sustainability in product development, guidance without pre-empting decisions: transparent enough to enable swift action, whilst simultaneously flexible enough to balance technology, costs and performance within the project scope. The VOOPER shows an approach for highly sustainable products \u2013 and upcoming pilot projects will further refine it. In this way, a development routine is gradually established in which sustainability is not an add-on, but an integral part of good engineering.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8829,"template":"","newskategorien":[79],"class_list":["post-8848","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","newskategorien-from-our-projects"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTransparency as a Lever: For Miele, Sustainability is an Integral Part of Good Engineering - it's OWL<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/its-owl.de\/en\/news-events\/news\/transparency-as-a-lever-for-miele-sustainability-is-an-integral-part-of-good-engineering\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Transparency as a Lever: For Miele, Sustainability is an Integral Part of Good Engineering - it's OWL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In many development projects, a product’s sustainability is determined during the early development phase. 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