Patent ID: 7340351

Claim:
A design support apparatus which supports a design of a product, the apparatus comprising: a data generator which generates parts/material data including parts composing the product, kinds of materials composing the parts and mass of each of the materials that differ in kind; a setting unit configured to set an evaluation condition; an evaluation unit configured to evaluate a recyclability of the product, using the evaluation condition and the parts/material data; an analysis unit configured to analyze a factor obstructing the recyclability based on an evaluation result of the evaluating unit; an output unit configured to output a remedy for an obstruction factor provided as an analysis result of the analysis unit; and an update unit configured to update, based on the remedy outputted, the evaluation condition and the parts/material data which are used in the evaluation by the evaluation unit, and wherein the evaluation unit is configured to evaluate a recyclability of the product based on the updated evaluation condition and the updated parts/material data, and the output unit is configured to output an updated evaluation result of the evaluation unit.