Edexcel A-Level Product Design Sustainability and ethics: a complete overview of the 6 Rs, life-cycle assessment, disassembly and ethical issues

What this module actually demands

Sustainability and ethics asks you to reduce a product's environmental impact across its whole life and to weigh the social and moral questions that surround design and manufacture. The examiners reward applied answers (the 6 Rs and LCA used on a real product) and balanced argument that reaches a judgement rather than one-sided assertion.

This guide walks through the topics in order and sets out the exam patterns Edexcel repeats. Each topic has a matching dot-point page with practice; this overview ties them together.

The 6 Rs, the circular economy and the life cycle

The 6 Rs and the circular economy give a hierarchy for cutting impact, rethink and reduce at the top, recycle at the bottom, and a system-level model that keeps materials in use rather than the linear take-make-dispose. Life-cycle assessment and the carbon footprint analyse impact across the five stages and identify embodied energy and the dominant stage, so designers target the biggest saving.

Disassembly, maintenance and ethics

Designing for disassembly and maintenance covers planned and unplanned obsolescence, modular and repairable design, standardised fastenings and design for disassembly so materials can be separated and recycled. Social, moral and ethical issues weigh fair trade and ethical sourcing, working conditions in global supply chains, the designer's responsibilities and the ethics of consumption and scarce resources.

How this module is examined

A typical Edexcel profile for Sustainability and ethics:

• Apply the 6 Rs. Use several Rs on a named product, prioritising the hierarchy.
• Life-cycle thinking. Describe the LCA stages and cut the carbon footprint at each.
• Disassembly and obsolescence. Explain planned obsolescence and design for disassembly.
• Ethics. Discuss fair trade, sourcing and responsibilities with a balanced judgement.

Check your knowledge

A mix of recall, application and calculation questions covering the module. Attempt them under timed conditions, then check against the solutions.

1. List the 6 Rs of sustainable design. (2 marks)
2. State one feature of the circular economy that the linear model lacks. (1 mark)
3. Name the five stages of a life-cycle assessment. (2 marks)
4. A bottle redesign cuts plastic from $25$ g to $19$ g. For $2$ million bottles, find the plastic saved in kilograms. (2 marks)
5. Define planned obsolescence. (1 mark)
6. Explain one reason a company might use fairly traded materials despite the higher cost. (2 marks)