Students of the Degree in Industrial Design Engineering are working with HP on a more sustainable design for its printers

Nearly a hundred students from the second year of the Undergraduate Degree in Industrial Design Engineering (subject ‘Sustainability Development Project’) have worked together with Hewlett-Packard (HP) to promote the circularity of one of the components of their printers.

The initial challenge, undertaken by 88 students divided into 29 three-person working groups, involved the redesign of a consumable in the HP professional printer head maintenance system.

Currently, this consumable has to be changed frequently, as when one of the components runs out, it needs to be completely replaced. This design responds to the convenience needs of users, but does not include design criteria for the circular economy.

The objective of the current Elisava and HP project is to reduce the carbon footprint by 50% and increase the circularity of the consumables by 60%. The challenge, set by the product sustainability department at HP’s Sant Cugat headquarters, is part of HP’s Sustainable Impact Strategy.