Abstract
Sustainable industrial development seeks to meet current needs of society without compromising the ability of future generations to satisfy their own needs. In order to be able to sustain further the growth and development, we have to become more environmentally conscious in the development, manufacturing, use, and post-life treatment of products. Based on the concept of design for environment and multi-lifecycle engineering, this paper introduces a multi-lifecycle product recovery model, optimal retirement planning, and design selection methods. Two electronic products are used to illustrate the proposed concepts and methods. The results are useful in helping designers take into account the environmental impact into their product and process design activities.