GREEN PRODUCTS DFE – DESIGN FOR THE ENVIRONMENT

1. GREEN PRODUCTSDFE – DESIGN FOR THE ENVIRONMENT

2. Growing Green (Unruh & Ettenson 2010) • Between 2007-2009 eco-friendly product launches increased by more than 500% • Environmental responsibility can be a platform for both growth and differentiation (remember the generic competitive strategies by Porter?!) • In their HBR article Unruh and Ettenson identify three ”smart” paths to developing sustainable products • One caveat; activists will not hesitate to point out greenwashing CSR1LH001

3. Green product strategies (Unruh & Ettenson) HIGH Greenable Attributes LOW LOW Green development capabilities HIGH CSR1LH001

4. Examples of ”accentuate” CSR1LH001

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8. Examples of ”acquire” • L’Oreal & The Body Shop • Unilever & Ben & Jerry’s CSR1LH001

9. Examples of ”architect” CSR1LH001

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11. Patagonia garment recycling CSR1LH001

12. The need for cleaner design ( architect and accentuate)

13. Why look at products? • Von Weizsacker et al. (1997) found that • 93% of production materials do not end up in saleable products • 80% of products are discarded after a single use • 99% of materials used are discarded in the first six weeks • Electrolux studied washing machines and realised that 80% of the environmental impact comes from the use phase and only 20% can be attributed to manufacture and distribution • Metso Paper studied the paper machine and realised even starker contrasts with the use of the product contributing almost all environmental impacts  Cleaner design can address these and improve production efficiency CSR1LH001

14. Why is design so vital? • Designers have the biggest impact on the product during its life. They will decide • raw materials • product life span • energy efficiency • recyclability • Black & Decker found that 80% of the product life cycle costs are determined at the design stage even though the actual costs occur downstream; this is a well realised fact in industry • The above objectives may clash with other demands such as economics and style CSR1LH001

15. Motives and benefits of sustainable design CSR1LH001

16. Economic drivers Reduced material and resource consumption Reduced waste generation Reduced costs Improved competitiveness Increased profits Market drivers Supply chain pressures Green consumers Innovation and development of new markets Government policy Achieving sustainable development Improved protection for the environment Reduced greenhouse gas emissions Improved environmental performance by UK industry European policy & legislative pressure Integrated Product Policy (IPP) EU Eco-labelling scheme Packaging waste regulations Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control Directive Climate Change Levy End-of-life vehicles directive Waste electrical and electronic equipment directive, WEEE ROHS directive Motives for cleaner design CSR1LH001

17. Benefits from cleaner design • Potential benefits include: • Lower production costs • Improved product function and quality • Increased market share • Improved environmental performance • Improved customer/ supplier relationship • Continued relationship with legislators • Easier disassembly and increased potential for recycling • Longer product design life CSR1LH001

18. What is cleaner design?

19. What is a product? • Kotler (1988) defines products through four levels: • The core product • The tangible product • The augmented product • The total product CSR1LH001

20. Esimerkki tuotteen kerroksista CSR1LH001

21. A Green Product • The concept of product needs to be extended: • The green product is the combination of the product, its packaging, its place of sale, its communication as well as the image of the corporation. The concept of product also includes what the product becomes as waste. • A green product can not be packed in styrofoam! • The relative importance of product attributes has changed over time CSR1LH001

22. A green product -an oxymoron? • Perception of “green” influenced by the raw-materials and processes employed in producing the pdt, the purpose/ use of the product, the disposal and after-life of the pdt, risks involved in the use of pdt as well as durability and country of origin. • Product needs to perform well on the following dimensions; raw-materials, energy-efficiency, waste, pollution, packaging, life-span, reusability, recyclability, image associations, socio-economic impact, sustainability. CSR1LH001

23. Issues in green product strategies • Pollution control; end-of-pipe (EOP) techniques • Cleaner production; integrated techniques • Product stewardship, extended producer responsibility • Design for the Environment (DfE), eco-efficiency CSR1LH001

24. Product (environmental) life cycle CSR1LH001

25. Key environmental considerations for cleaner design CSR1LH001

26. The DfE cycle CSR1LH001

27. Management resistance • Green product development may not be easy-sell to senior management; typically argued to have negative impact both on sales and image. Also • the introduction of green products will decrease demand and sales of core products • there will be inadequate demand to justify increased costs and people will not pay a premium • unacceptable costs of R&D will be incurred CSR1LH001

28. What is cleaner design? • Cleaner design is the design of a product to minimise its environmental impacts over its entire lifetime and to meet customer requirements • Clean design is proactive sustainability management • Clean design helps to reduce operating costs, increase market share, improve environmental performance and simulate innovation • Design for the Environment, Design for Value Maximisation, Clean Design, Product Eco-Efficiency; all are synonyms • Clean design needs to be incorporated through addressing • People - capacity building • Processes - providing checklists • Techniques – providing tools • Need to be sure to optimise the system and not optimise only a subsystem at the expense of sub-optimising the entire system!! CSR1LH001

29. DfE Examples

30. Design for the Environment (DfE) • Design for alternative need fulfillment • Design for product lifetime extension • Design for “best” and minimum materials • Design for closure of material cycles • Design for energy conservation • Design for efficient distribution CSR1LH001

31. Design for alternative need fulfillment • The majority of products are bought for the use value they provide; naturally the exception of status goods. • Consumers do not really need cars, phones etc; they need to commute, communicate… • Not product per se but utility --> towards a service economy • May work better in larger procurement decisions rather than individual consumer behavior CSR1LH001

32. Design for alternative need fulfillment • Sharing products: car pooling • Leasing • chemicals • carpets • office machinery • washing machines (Electrolux) • Services designed to reduce need for material products; designing pedestrian access rather than roads CSR1LH001

33. Design for product lifetime extension • Disposability has long been regarded as an objective/ consumer benefit • Also pricing strategies promote disposability • Rapid technological change makes products quickly obsolete; built-in obsolescence • Tradition of encouraging disposal rather than re-use; “newness” has been a value in itself • Extending lifetime needs to include an attitude shift • Gap between developed and developing nations CSR1LH001

34. …product lifetime extension • Extending useful life • Products often not robust; especially consumer goods. Different parts of appliances deteriorate at different rates. • Designing products so that parts can easily be replaced/ repaired; modular structure • Design for re-manufacture • products that can disassembled, refurbished and re-assembled; upgrading • good also when external features become un-fashionable • labor costs of assembly! • Can old materials/parts be efficiently treated? CSR1LH001

35. EXAMPLE: modularity CSR1LH001

36. …product lifetime extension • Design for recyclability • raw-material costs make up most of production costs • increasing disposal costs • large or single material items easiest; composites sometimes problematic. Example: plastics containing different polymers • mechanical disassembly/ sorting of waste fractions • waste needs to be collected, sorted and re-used • parts identification CSR1LH001

37. Materials Selection • Variety of materials available • Quality specifications • Use of recycled materials • Use of recyclable materials • Advanced materials • Biodegradable materials • Avoidance of hazardous ingredients CSR1LH001

38. Example: choice of materials CSR1LH001

39. Example: choice of materials CSR1LH001

40. Minimum use of materials • Simplification • Miniaturisation • Multi-functionalism • Dematerialisation • MIPS • Factor 4 and beyond • Hydrogen car As one industry figure declared: "The public doesn't want to drive electric cars; they are boring to drive. They are smooth and efficient, but they are not fun cars; they don't make a nice noise, and they are not exciting. But when there is no alternative, they will buy electric cars." CSR1LH001

41. Example: minimising materials use CSR1LH001

42. Example: Minimising materials use CSR1LH001

43. Eco-Efficiency and MIPS 5 grams versus 2000 kg The corporate approach CSR1LH001

44. Use of energy and water • Energy and water use/pollution etc are among the most highly regulated areas of environmental legislation. • Designers can make choices affecting the use and efficiency of energy and water consumption. • Energy efficiency • labeling requirements! • Simple changes: compartments in ovens, fans in refrigerators, light-weight materials, use of micro-processors • letting the consumer assemble (IKEA) CSR1LH001

45. Use of energy and water • Alternative energy sources • both during use and during production as well as other stages of life cycle • cars, solar power calculator, Seiko Kinetic • Water use • examining processes to identify where water really is necessary, for example dry debarking of logs • through mechanical change decrease amount of water used; for example washing machines use more pressure and direct water better so less water is needed CSR1LH001

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48. Design for closure of materials cycles • Closed cycles within a corporation or process • collection and re-use of process raw materials, auxilliary materials, side products etc. • Waste transfer • market forces • Industrial Ecosystems • extended producer producer alliances (for example packaging and tyres) • product specific • material specific • industrial symbiosis • tight cooperation network, often local or regional CSR1LH001

49. www.symbiosis.dk CSR1LH001

50. Packaging • One of the main issues in green product strategies & image is packaging. • Packaging can “make or break” the green campaign. • Different alternatives have been compared; often there is no scientific consensus and in the absence of such, public opinion fills the vacuum. • Packaging serves important purposes • protecting the product • easing transportation • communicating about the product • etc CSR1LH001