Strategies and material flow in ecodesign

Abstract

Industrial products, green or not, are all compromises between many demands and constraints. Functionality and business performance are of course the dominants. Some products can easily be transformed in a green direction by changing a toxic substance over to something harmless others face a much more complicated situation. In order to face new challenges in product development it is essential to have a strategy for the integration of EcoDesign into “normal/classical” product development. Depending on the type of product and its impact on environmental performance, different strategies are possible.Very important is materials flow and information but also to have a procedure for getting different stakeholders inside the company together in forming requirements for new product with EcoDesign criteria integrated. Eco cycling of materials is a well known metaphor for the sustainable technical development ahead. With new concepts as Product-Service Systems and Producers responsibility a linear model can be useful. In this case the material can be looked upon as a working capital along a time axis where functionality of products and benefits to the customer is a profit and the recycling loss of materials can be seen as a cost. This paper will discuss this situation and put light on a possible new way of looking on EcoDesign.