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Up to now, environmental policies have relied mainly on rules, regulations, and prohibitions. This kind of environmental policy -- a clearly reactive approach - has shown a mounting array of limitations. There is a clear need to seek new solutions, in particular those involving the initiative of firms themselves. Since the mid-1980's, a new approach called "environmental management" has been established in research and practical applications; it is designed to systematically integrate environmental considerations into company activities. If, for instance, environmental objectives are being formulated for an enterprise, it is imperative to identify, highlight, and analyze real and significant environmental impacts of the firm's activities and to take appropriate measures to improve its performance. Controlling and implementing these environmental objectives requires suitable structures, procedures, and tools. Many motivated companies have approached the issue of environmental management through incorporating methods such "continual improvement processes" and "Life Cycle Assessment" into the various operational activities of the enterprise. Some firms initiated such transformation processes at their own production sites because it was easier to identify their own environmental impacts than to analyze, let alone mitigate, the effects of upstream and downstream processes. However, in many cases these processes are decisive factors in the overall environmental performance of a product. It has become clear that product design can influence these processes to a great extent.
List of contents
It's not as Simple as that....- Systematically Identifying Weak Points.- Targeted Identification of Ecodesign Measures.- Preparing Ecodesign for Product Development.- Embedding Ecodesign in Environmental Management.- Successful Initiation of Ecodesign Projects.
About the author
Wolfgang Wimmer is professor for Engineering Design and Ecodesign at the Vienna University of Technology (VUT
Prof. Dr., Dipl. Ing. Rainer Züst ist Assistenzprofessor für Betriebswissenschaften an der ETH Zürich. Er unterrichtet "Systems Engineering" an der ETH, an Ingenieurschulen in der Schweiz und an ausländischen Universitäten. Er ist in zahlreiche Praxisprojekte involviert, die mit "Systems Engineering" zum erfolgreichen Abschluss gebracht wurden.
Summary
Up to now, environmental policies have relied mainly on rules, regulations, and prohibitions. This kind of environmental policy -- a clearly reactive approach – has shown a mounting array of limitations. There is a clear need to seek new solutions, in particular those involving the initiative of firms themselves. Since the mid-1980’s, a new approach called “environmental management” has been established in research and practical applications; it is designed to systematically integrate environmental considerations into company activities. If, for instance, environmental objectives are being formulated for an enterprise, it is imperative to identify, highlight, and analyze real and significant environmental impacts of the firm's activities and to take appropriate measures to improve its performance. Controlling and implementing these environmental objectives requires suitable structures, procedures, and tools. Many motivated companies have approached the issue of environmental management through incorporating methods such “continual improvement processes” and “Life Cycle Assessment” into the various operational activities of the enterprise. Some firms initiated such transformation processes at their own production sites because it was easier to identify their own environmental impacts than to analyze, let alone mitigate, the effects of upstream and downstream processes. However, in many cases these processes are decisive factors in the overall environmental performance of a product. It has become clear that product design can influence these processes to a great extent.
