What sustainable design concept emphasizes that waste from one product can be the input for another?

The sustainable design concept that emphasizes the idea that waste from one product can serve as the input for another product is known as cradle-to-cradle. This approach is grounded in the principle of designing products with their entire lifecycle in mind, promoting the idea that materials should never become waste but should instead be reused and repurposed indefinitely.

In this framework, products are designed from the outset to be disassembled and their materials recycled or repurposed at the end of their functional life. This contrasts with traditional linear design models, where products are often discarded after use, contributing to waste and resource depletion. Cradle-to-cradle focuses on creating systems where outputs are continually cycled back into the production process, fostering a regenerative approach to design and manufacturing.

While other concepts, such as the circular economy, also relate closely to resource efficiency and waste reduction, cradle-to-cradle specifically highlights the importance of waste as a valuable resource for new products, underscoring a holistic view of material life cycles and their interdependencies.