In recent years, due to the growing importance of eco-design and tightening EU regulations entrepreneurs are required to implement activities related to environmental protection. It influences the development of methods and tools enabling the implementation of eco-design into practice, which are increasingly used by modern information technologies. They are based on intelligent solutions that allows them to better match the requirements of designers and allows for the automation of processes, and in some cases they are able to do the work themselves, replacing designers. Details are useful in areas that require calculations, comparisons and making choices, which is the process of eco-design. The paper describes methodology of pro-ecological product design oriented towards recycling, based on agent technology, enables the design of environmentally friendly products including recycling. The description of the methodology was preceded by a literature analysis on the characteristics of tools supporting eco-design and the process of its development was presented. The proposed methodology can be used at the design stage of devices to select the best product in terms of ecology. It is based on the original set of recycling indicators, used to evaluate the recycling of the product, ensure the ability to operate in a distributed design environment, and the use of data from various CAD systems, allows full automation of calculations and updates (without user participation).

Cosmetic emulsion bases containing extracts from natural plants were produced. The emulsifier was an aqueous solution of self-emulsifying base made from apricot kernel oil and soy lecithin, while the oil phase was based on coconut, almond or grape seed oils. In addition, mixtures enriched with vegetable glycerine were produced. It was found that for the emulsions with almond oil as the concentration of the oil phase increased, the value of the average Sauter diameter increased. In comparison, results for emulsions with coconut oil and emulsions with grapeseed oil did not give such a clear relationship. It was also shown that for stable emulsions, the self-emulsifying base of apricot kernel oil performed much better than soy lecithin. The addition of vegetable glycerine to the mixture resulted in a reduction of the average droplet diameter. Produced emulsions were also visually observed for 60 days to assess their stability and possible aging processes. In order to exclude the formation of microorganisms, periodic density control and microscopic examinations were carried out. The presence of microorganisms 30 in the analysed emulsion was evaluated using microscopic and culture techniques. No tarnish waso bserved on the surface of the samples, indicating the formation of mould, which can lead to poisoning and the development of allergies, respiratory diseases, liver diseases, ulcers, or bleeding in the intestines.

This paper attempts to conduct a comparative life cycle environmental analysis of alternative versions of a product that was manufactured with the use of additive technologies. The aim of the paper was to compare the environmental assessment of an additive-manufactured product using two approaches: a traditional one, based on the use of SimaPro software, and the authors’ own concept of a newly developed artificial intelligence (AI) based approach. The structure of the product was identical and the research experiments consisted in changing the materials used in additive manufacturing (from polylactic acid (PLA) to acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS)). The effects of these changes on the environmental factors were observed and a direct comparison of the effects in the different factors was made. SimaPro software with implemented databases was used for the analysis. Missing information on the environmental impact of additive manufacturing of PLA and ABS parts was taken from the literature for the purpose of the study. The novelty of the work lies in the results of a developing concurrent approach based on AI. The results showed that the artificial intelligence approach can be an effective way to analyze life cycle assessment (LCA) even in such complex cases as a 3D printed medical exoskeleton. This approach, which is becoming increasingly useful as the complexity of manufactured products increases, will be developed in future studies.