Chick, A., Micklethwaite, P., 2003.

"Recycled tigers' teeth?": obstacles to UK designers specifying recycled products and materials

This paper introduces findings from the Recycling by Design Research Project (Phase I), the aims of which are to raise awareness and understanding of recycled products and materials among UK designers and architects. The paper first establishes the importance of developing new markets for recycled products and materials in the UK. Selected research findings are then presented from a questionnaire survey response obtained from 142 UK designers, and follow-up interviews conducted with 10 of those respondents. These findings identify that UK designers do not currently specify recycled products and materials, and that there are a range of obstacles to their doing so. A concluding discussion briefly examines the UK Government's current position on addressing such obstacles by exploring its recommendations for action to encourage the increased specification of recyclate.