Product Innovation and Eco-Efficiency

Prefaced by Björn Stigson, President of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, this book is one of the few that treats this topic by putting representatives of industry at centre stage. The book systematically addresses the drivers, the tools, and sector-specific elements that play a role in this process. The five chapters in Part I are devoted to a general introduction to eco-efficiency and the related challenges to industry in its implementation. Part II contains 23 case studies, almost all written by industrial experts who tell how they deal with the challenge: what the motivators are, what tools can be used and how they can be implemented, and what are the specific elements in sectors like building, electronics and packaging. These contributions come from multinationals like Unilever, Procter & Gamble, Akzo Nobel, Philips and Ciba-Geigy, as well as small and medium sized enterprises from such sectors as the building and furniture trades.

Klappentext

Prefaced by Björn Stigson, President of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, this book is one of the few that treats this topic by putting representatives of industry at centre stage. The book systematically addresses the drivers, the tools, and sector-specific elements that play a role in this process. The five chapters in Part I are devoted to a general introduction to eco-efficiency and the related challenges to industry in its implementation. Part II contains 23 case studies, almost all written by industrial experts who tell how they deal with the challenge: what the motivators are, what tools can be used and how they can be implemented, and what are the specific elements in sectors like building, electronics and packaging. These contributions come from multinationals like Unilever, Procter & Gamble, Akzo Nobel, Philips and Ciba-Geigy, as well as small and medium sized enterprises from such sectors as the building and furniture trades.

Inhalt
1 Introduction.- 2 Issues: driving factors.- 3 Instruments: the toolbox for product innovation and eco-efficiency.- 4 Industries: sector-specific developments.- 5 The challenge.- 6 The reduction of waste in metal machining.- 7 Smart cements.- 8 Coextruded pipe: an ideal product for recycled PVC pipes and fittings.- 9 Future energy services.- 10 Novel protein foods.- 11 Disassembly analysis of consumer products.- 12 LCA of the utilization processes of spent sulphuric acid.- 13 Environmental analysis of wooden furniture.- 14 Application of LCA in environmental management in Statoil.- 15 The environmental improvement process at Unilever.- 16 Using LCA in environmental decision-making.- 17 LCA as a decision-support tool for product optimization.- 18 Possibilities for sustainable development in the chemical industry.- 19 Towards eco-efficiency with LCA's prevention principle: an epistemological foundation of LCA using axioms.- 20 Product innovation and public involvement.- 21 Experiences with the application of secondary materials in the building and construction industry.- 22 Ecodesign for building materials and building construction.- 23 'Apparetour': national pilot project collection and reprocessing of white and brown goods.- 24 Ecodesign at Bang & Olufsen.- 25 Eco-efficiency and sustainability at Philips Sound & Vision.- 26 Use of recycled PET for soft drink bottles.- 27 Optimizing packaging: fitness for purpose, together with ecological and economic aspects, must be part of the equation.- 28 Paper packaging designed for recycling.- List of contributors.