Sustainable
Specific definitions of sustainability are difficult to agree on and have varied in the literature and over time. The concept of sustainability can be used to guide decisions at the global, national, and individual levels (e.g. sustainable livin ...
products are those products that provide environmental, social and economic benefits while protecting
public health
Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the det ...
and
environment
Environment most often refers to:
__NOTOC__
* Natural environment, all living and non-living things occurring naturally
* Biophysical environment, the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism or ...
over their whole life cycle, from the extraction of
raw material
A raw material, also known as a feedstock, unprocessed material, or primary commodity, is a basic material that is used to produce goods, finished goods, energy, or intermediate materials that are feedstock for future finished products. As feedst ...
s until the final disposal.
Scope of definition
According to Belz, Frank-Martin., the definition of sustainable product has six characteristics:
*
Customer satisfaction
Customer satisfaction (often abbreviated as CSAT) is a term frequently used in marketing. It is a measure of how products and services supplied by a company meet or surpass customer expectation. Customer satisfaction is defined as "the number of c ...
: any products or services that do not meet customer needs will not survive in the market in a long term.
* Dual focus: compared with purely environmental products, sustainable products focus both on ecological and social significance.
* Life-cycle orientation: sustainable products are environmentally-friendly throughout their entire life. That is, from the moment the raw materials are extracted to the moment the final product is disposed of, there must be no permanent damage to the environment.
* Significant improvements: sustainable products contribute to dealing with socio-ecological problems on a global level, or provide measurable improvements in socio-ecological product performance.
*
Continuous improvement
A continual improvement process, also often called a continuous improvement process (abbreviated as CIP or CI), is an ongoing effort to improve products, services, or processes. These efforts can seek "incremental" improvement over time or "breakth ...
: as the state of knowledge, technologies and societal expectation continually develop, sustainable products should also continuously improve with regard to social and environmental variation.
* Competing offers: sustainable products may still lag behind competing offers, therefore, the competing offers may serve as a
benchmark
Benchmark may refer to:
Business and economics
* Benchmarking, evaluating performance within organizations
* Benchmark price
* Benchmark (crude oil), oil-specific practices
Science and technology
* Benchmark (surveying), a point of known elevati ...
regarding social and ecological performance.
Michael Braungart
Michael Braungart (born 1958) is a German chemist who advocates that humans can make a positive instead of a negative environmental impact by redesigning industrial production and therefore that dissipation is not waste. A former Greenpeace activ ...
and
William McDonough
William Andrews McDonough is an American architect, designer, and author. McDonough is founding principal of William McDonough + Partners, co-founder of McDonough MBDC, and co-author of ''Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things'' a ...
's book ''
Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things'' expands on the life-cycle part of this definition. They suggest that every material and product should be made in a manner that when its useful life is over, all the materials of which it is made can be returned to the Earth after composting, or endlessly recycled as raw materials.
Product information
Product information
In marketing, a product is an object, or system, or service made available for consumer use as of the consumer demand; it is anything that can be offered to a market to satisfy the desire or need of a customer. In retailing, products are ofte ...
can enable, facilitate, require or support consumers or other buyers and importers to identify sustainable products or sustainability of products.
Sustainability standards and certification
Sustainability standards and certifications are voluntary guidelines used by producers, manufacturers, traders, retailers, and service providers to demonstrate their commitment to good environmental, social, ethical, and food safety practices. Th ...
s are used for this purpose:
Sustainable product standards
Sustainability standards also known as Voluntary Sustainability Standards (VSS) are private standards that require products to meet specific economic, social or
environmental sustainability
Specific definitions of sustainability are difficult to agree on and have varied in the literature and over time. The concept of sustainability can be used to guide decisions at the global, national, and individual levels (e.g. sustainable livi ...
metrics. The requirements can refer to product quality or attributes, but also to production and processing methods, as well as transportation. VSS are mostly designed and marketed by non-governmental organizations (
NGOs
A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...
) or private firms and they are adopted by actors up and down the value chain, from farmers to retailers.
Certifications and
labels
A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product, on which is written or printed information or symbols about the product or item. Information printed dir ...
are used to signal the successful implementation of a VSS. Over the last decades, these standards have emerged as new tools to address key sustainability challenges such as
biodiversity
Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...
,
climate change
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...
, and
human rights
Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...
. They standards cover a wide range of sectors such as agriculture, fishery, forestry, energy, textile and others. According to the
ITC standards map the mostly covered products by standards are agricultural products, followed by consumer products.
Overall standards
Nordic Swan Ecolabel
The standard of
Nordic Swan Ecolabel, which is distributed in
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
,
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
,
Denmark
)
, song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast")
, song_type = National and royal anthem
, image_map = EU-Denmark.svg
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark
...
,
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
and
Iceland
Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...
, mainly refers to distinguished products that have a positive effect on the environment. More likely, however, it has climate requirements that limit the amount of emissions where it is most relevant. More than 3,000 products, predominantly household chemicals, paper products, office machinery and building materials have been issued with this label. The criteria account environmental factors through the product's life cycle (raw material extraction, production and distribution, use and refuse). Thus the most important parameters are consumption of natural resources and energy, emissions into air, water and soil, generation of waste and noise.
Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)
GRI frames out and disseminates global sustainability reporting guidelines for ‘voluntary use by organizations reporting on the economic, environmental, and social dimensions of their activities, products and services’. According to GRI Guidelines, reporting bodies should take into consideration stakeholders’ interests and use the
social indicators and others that more accurately depict the social and ecological performance of the organization.
Life Cycle Assessment
Life cycle assessment or LCA (also known as life cycle analysis) is a methodology for assessing environmental impacts associated with all the stages of the life cycle of a commercial product, process, or service. For instance, in the case o ...
(LCA)
LCA evaluates and discloses the environmental benefits of products over their full life cycle, from raw materials extraction to final disposition. Since 1997 the process of conducting LCA studies has been standardized by the
International Organization for Standardization
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO ) is an international standard development organization composed of representatives from the national standards organizations of member countries. Membership requirements are given in Ar ...
(ISO).
Product-oriented standards
Organic Food Labeling
Organic food
Organic food, ecological food or biological food are food and drinks produced by methods complying with the standards of organic farming. Standards vary worldwide, but organic farming features practices that cycle resources, promote ecological ...
are foods that are produced using methods involving no agricultural synthetic inputs, for instance, synthetic
pesticide
Pesticides are substances that are meant to control pests. This includes herbicide, insecticide, nematicide, molluscicide, piscicide, avicide, rodenticide, bactericide, insect repellent, animal repellent, microbicide, fungicide, and lampri ...
s,
chemical fertilizer
A fertilizer (American English) or fertiliser (British English; see spelling differences) is any material of natural or synthetic origin that is applied to soil or to plant tissues to supply plant nutrients. Fertilizers may be distinct from ...
s,
genetically modified organism
A genetically modified organism (GMO) is any organism whose genetic material has been altered using genetic engineering techniques. The exact definition of a genetically modified organism and what constitutes genetic engineering varies, with ...
s (GMO), and are not processed using
irradiation
Irradiation is the process by which an object is exposed to radiation. The exposure can originate from various sources, including natural sources. Most frequently the term refers to ionizing radiation, and to a level of radiation that will serve ...
, industrial
solvent
A solvent (s) (from the Latin '' solvō'', "loosen, untie, solve") is a substance that dissolves a solute, resulting in a solution. A solvent is usually a liquid but can also be a solid, a gas, or a supercritical fluid. Water is a solvent for ...
s, or chemical
food additive
Food additives are substances added to food to preserve flavor or enhance taste, appearance, or other sensory qualities. Some additives have been used for centuries as part of an effort to preserve food, for example vinegar (pickling), salt (salt ...
s. Currently, the United States,
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
,
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
and many other industrialized countries require food producers to acquire special criteria or certification to market their products as "organic". Apparently, organic food producers emphasize sustainable
conservation
Conservation is the preservation or efficient use of resources, or the conservation of various quantities under physical laws.
Conservation may also refer to:
Environment and natural resources
* Nature conservation, the protection and managem ...
of the social-ecological attributes such as soil, water and the whole ecosystem. International organizations such as the
Organic Consumers Association
The Organic Consumers Association (OCA) is a non-profit advocacy group for the organic agriculture industry based in Minnesota. The organization's members include subscribers to their online newsletters, volunteers, supporters, and retail outlets ...
supervise the development of organic food. According to the
National Organic Program
The National Organic Program (NOP) is the federal regulatory framework in the United States of America governing organic food. It is also the name of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) program r ...
(NOP) in the US, a voluntary green-and-white seal on foods’ packaging denotes that a product is at least 95% organic.
MSC Labeling
The
Marine Stewardship Council
The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) is a non-profit organization which aims to set standards for sustainable fishing. Fisheries that wish to demonstrate they are well-managed and sustainable compared to the MSC's standards are assessed by a te ...
(MSC) is an independent non-profit organization established in 1997 to address the
overfishing
Overfishing is the removal of a species of fish (i.e. fishing) from a body of water at a rate greater than that the species can replenish its population naturally (i.e. the overexploitation of the fishery's existing fish stock), resulting in th ...
problem. Fisheries that are assessed and meet the standard can use th
MSC blue ecolabel The MSC mission is to 'reward sustainable fishing practices’. As of the end of 2010, more than 1,300 fisheries and companies had achieved a Marine Stewardship Council certification.
FSC Labeling
The
Forest Stewardship Council
The Forest Stewardship Council A. C. (FSC) is an international non-profit, multistakeholder organization established in 1993 that promotes responsible management of the world's forests via timber certification. It is an example of a market-ba ...
(FSC) is an international non-profit organization established in 1993 to ‘promote forest management that is environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial and economically viable’. Its main responsibilities for achieving the goal are standard framing, independent certification issuing and labeling. FSC directly or indirectly addresses issues such as
illegal logging
Illegal logging is the harvest, transportation, purchase or sale of timber in violation of laws. The harvesting procedure itself may be illegal, including using corrupt means to gain access to forests; extraction without permission, or from a pro ...
,
deforestation and global warming
Deforestation is a primary contributor to climate change. Land use changes, especially in the form of deforestation, are the second largest anthropogenic source of atmospheric carbon dioxide emissions, after fossil fuel combustion. Greenho ...
and has positive effects on
economic development
In the economics study of the public sector, economic and social development is the process by which the economic well-being and quality of life of a nation, region, local community, or an individual are improved according to targeted goals and o ...
,
environmental conservation
*Environmental protection
*Nature conservation
Nature conservation is the moral philosophy and conservation movement focused on protecting species from extinction, maintaining and restoring habitats, enhancing ecosystem services, and protec ...
,
poverty alleviation
Poverty reduction, poverty relief, or poverty alleviation, is a set of measures, both economic and humanitarian, that are intended to permanently lift people out of poverty.
Measures, like those promoted by Henry George in his economics clas ...
and social and political empowerment.
Fair Trade Labeling
![EKO symbol RGB](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a6/EKO_symbol_RGB.jpg)
Although there is no universally accepted definition of
fair trade
Fair trade is an arrangement designed to help producers in developing countries achieve sustainable and equitable trade relationships. The fair trade movement combines the payment of higher prices to exporters with improved social and enviro ...
,
Fairtrade Labeling Organizations International (FLO) most commonly refer to a definition developed by FINE, an informal association of four international fair trade networks (Fair trade Labeling Organizations International,
World Fair Trade Organization
The World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO), is a global association of 401 organizations who are committed to improving the livelihoods of economically marginalised producers. WFTO has members in 76 countries. Members are primarily fair trade enterpr ...
- formerly International Fair Trade Association,
Network of European Worldshops The Network of European Worldshops (NEWS!) was established in 1994 and coordinates the cooperation between Worldshops in Europe. It is a network of national associations of Worldshops representing 2,500 shops in 13 member countries: Austria, Belgi ...
and
European Fair Trade Association The European Fair Trade Association (EFTA) is a Dutch association established informally in 1987. It gained formal status in 1990. It regroups 11 fair trade importers in 9 European countries: Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Sp ...
): fair trade is a trading partnership, based on dialogue, transparency and respect, that seeks greater equity in international trade. It contributes to sustainable development by offering better trading conditions to, and securing the rights of, marginalized producers and workers – especially in the South. Fair trade organizations, backed by consumers, are engaged actively in supporting producers, awareness raising and in campaigning for changes in the rules and practice of conventional international trade.
U. S. Green Building Council LEED Rating System
The
LEED Green Building Rating System evaluates environmental performance of all buildings over their life, providing the definitive standard for what constitutes a
"green" building, persuading the consumer and building industry to develop products that are more environmentally and economically viable.
EKOenergy label
EKOenergy
EKOenergy is an ecolabel for electricity. It is a not-for-profit initiative of the EKOenergy Network, a group of more than 40 environmental organizations from 30 countries. EKOenergy started in 2013 in Europe. Its secretariat is based in Helsinki. ...
is an ecolabel originating in Finland. It is becoming the continent-wide ecolabel for energy, which is supported by number European NGOs. It evaluates sustainability of electricity products on open energy markets.
Green Seal
Green Seal
Green Seal is a non-profit environmental standard development and certification organization. Its flagship program is the certification of products and services. Certification is based on Green Seal standards, which contain performance, health, an ...
is a North American non-profit ecolabel organization established in 1989. It generates life cycle-based sustainability standards for products, services and companies in addition to offering third party
independent test organization
An independent test organization is an organization, person, or company that tests products, materials, software, etc. according to agreed requirements. The test organization can be affiliated with the government or universities or can be an indep ...
certification for those meeting its standards. Green Seal was the first non-profit environmental certification program established in the United States. It currently has certified nearly 4,000 products and services within 400 categories.
Sustainable product policies
International
Since 1998, the branch of the
United Nations Environment Programme
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is responsible for coordinating responses to environmental issues within the United Nations system. It was established by Maurice Strong, its first director, after the United Nations Conference on th ...
(UNEP) has undertaken several national programs or action plans on
sustainable consumption
Sustainable consumption (sometimes abbreviated to "SC") is the use of products and services in ways that minimize impacts on the environment in order for human needs to be met in the present but also for future generations. Sustainable consumption ...
and production. Moreover, the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
is responsible for administrating the Marrakech Process and developing the ten-year Sustainable Consumption and Production Framework through Regional Marrakech Process Consultations, whose goal is to accelerate the shift towards sustainable consumption and production (SCP).
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; french: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, ''OCDE'') is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries ...
(OECD)’s Environmental Directorate has also done comprehensive work on the environmental impacts of sustainable consumption and production. One of current OECD projects is reviewing measures for sustainable manufacturing production.
In 2015, the United Nations established 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and
SDG 12
Sustainable Development Goal 12 (SDG 12 or Global Goal 1), titled "responsible consumption and production", is one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals established by the United Nations in 2015. The official wording of SDG 12 is "Ensure sus ...
refers to "responsible consumption and production". Specifically, Target 12.1 has a single indicator to “Implement the 10‑Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns, all countries taking action, with developed countries taking the lead, taking into account the development and capabilities of developing countries".
Regions and countries
European Union: on 16 July 2008 the
European Commission
The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...
presented the Sustainable Consumption and Production and Sustainable Industrial Policy (SCP/SIP) Action Plan which clarifies the United Nations’ Marrakech Process on Sustainable Consumption and Production and global ten-year Sustainable Consumption and Production Framework and was adopted by the Council on 4 December 2008 and is updated regularly. It includes a series of proposals on sustainable consumption and production to target EU goals for
environmental sustainability
Specific definitions of sustainability are difficult to agree on and have varied in the literature and over time. The concept of sustainability can be used to guide decisions at the global, national, and individual levels (e.g. sustainable livi ...
,
economic growth
Economic growth can be defined as the increase or improvement in the inflation-adjusted market value of the goods and services produced by an economy in a financial year. Statisticians conventionally measure such growth as the percent rate of ...
and
public welfare
Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifical ...
, which are as follows:
* A proposal to extend mandatory labeling requirements which is relevant to the
energy efficiency
Energy efficiency may refer to:
* Energy efficiency (physics), the ratio between the useful output and input of an energy conversion process
** Electrical efficiency, useful power output per electrical power consumed
** Mechanical efficiency, a ra ...
of products according to the 1992 Energy Labeling Directive.
* A proposal to widen the covering fields of voluntary
EU Ecolabel
EU Ecolabel or EU Flower is a voluntary ecolabel scheme established in 1992 by the European Union.
Logo
The label includes a green flower with inclined green "ϵ" (epsilon, Greek epsilon) as the flower, surrounded by 12 blue stars. On EU Ecolabe ...
of products (e.g., including food and beverage products) and streamline the system.
![Energy label en](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Energy_label_en.svg)
* A proposal for an independent communication on green public procurement. This communication identifies economic priority sectors, establishes common environmental criteria and guides to implement green public procurement by Member States.
* A proposal for the revision of the EU Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) to enlarge the number of companies involved, including companies outside the EU, and decrease the administrative costs for Small and Mediums Sized Enterprises (SMEs).
* Proposals on sustainable consumption and production that will contribute to improve the environmental efficiency of products and increase the demand for more pro-environmental goods and production technologies.
In 2020-2021, the EU discussed the possible implementation of the Sustainable Product Policy Initiative, which may include, amongst others, the inclusion of a
Digital Product Passport Produce traceability makes it possible to track produce from its point of origin to a retail location where it is purchased by consumers.
Produce traceability is an important link in protecting public health since it allows health agencies to more ...
.
The EU sustainable product policy was renewed in function of the
European Green Deal and the new
Circular Economy Action Plan
The European Green Deal, approved 2020, is a set of policy initiatives by the European Commission with the overarching aim of making the European Union (EU) climate neutral in 2050. An impact assessed plan will also be presented to increase the ...
. and revises the Ecodesign Directive.
The
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
government does not have a standardized national policy or strategy for sustainable consumption and production. However, the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency
A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale f ...
(EPA) develops extensive sustainability programs on water, agriculture, energy, and ecosystem, etc. At the same time, the
U.S. Department of State
The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the country's fore ...
’s Sustainable Development Partnerships web page provides considerable information about the U.S. government's sustainable development initiatives to help other countries set up and implement their own development strategies in social and ecological terms.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
government considers Sustainable Consumption and Production is one of the four priority sectors identified in the 2005 UK Sustainable Development Strategy. The UK government is carrying out a series of actions to achieve goals of sustainable consumption and production in public and private areas respectively.
Norwegian Ministry of the Environment founded Norway’s Green in Practice (GRIP), which is a public-private foundation established in 1996 to promote sustainable consumption and production. At the same time, Norway’s Ministry of Finance has primary responsibility to fund the strategy of sustainable development.
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
n government requires that certain electrical products for sale should contain mandatory energy-efficiency labeling to provide consumers with information that helps reduce energy use and green house gas emissions.
Sustainable product design
Conventionally,
environmental management system
An environmental management system (EMS) is "a system and database which integrates procedures and processes for training of personnel, monitoring, summarizing, and reporting of specialized environmental performance information to internal and exte ...
s have always addressed the impacts of products on local surroundings. ISO 14001 (ISO 14001:3) provides a formalized framework for managing significant environmental aspects and improving environmental performance through a ‘‘Plan, Do, Check, Review’’ continual improvement cycle.
During the phase of
product planning
Product Planning, or product discovery, is the ongoing process of identifying and articulating market requirements that define a product's feature set. It serves as the basis for decision-making about price, distribution and promotion. Product pl ...
, consumer demands and market opportunities are evaluated. At this time a product description and execution plans for a successful program launch are developed and product requirements are defined.
During the phase of product development, specific design specifications are finalized, models are built, and designs are reviewed and released for manufacture planning. Once manufacturing begins, the product is commercially launched for general availability and volume deployed to the marketplace. Once a
prototype
A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototyp ...
is available, LCA is used as a fundamental standard to identify significant social and environmental aspects and quantify environmental impact.
Once a product is launched into market and becomes commercialized, it enters the maturity phase, which means that the sales and the profits both reach the peak. The maturity phase contains two stages: during the first stage of maturity, the customer is utilizing the product. Modifications may still be made to the product to enhance or change it. The product enters the second stage of maturity when it approaches near to the decline phase.
Where applicable, end-of-life products are taken back and subsequently reused or recycled efficiently. While being a legal requirement in the EU, the take back of end-of-life products offers the chance to review the final life cycle stage of a product through direct contact with recyclers. This knowledge can then be applied to future designs and product improvement.
Scientific analysis to assess sustainability and alternatives of products
A 2021 study reviewed 217 analyses of on-the-market products and services, analyzed existing alternatives to mainstream food, holidays, and furnishings, and concludes that total
greenhouse gas emissions by Swedes could be lowered by to date up to 36–38% if consumers – without a decrease in total estimated expenditure or considerations of self-interest rationale – instead were to obtain those they, using available datasets,
could assess to be more sustainable.
Criticism
Efforts toward “greener” products are supported in the sustainability community; however, these are often viewed only as incremental steps and not as an end. Some people foresee a true sustainable
steady state economy
A steady-state economy is an economy made up of a constant stock of physical wealth (capital) and a constant population size. In effect, such an economy does not grow in the course of time. The term usually refers to the national economy o ...
that may be very different from today's: greatly reduced
consumerism
Consumerism is a social and economic order that encourages the acquisition of goods and services in ever-increasing amounts. With the Industrial Revolution, but particularly in the 20th century, mass production led to overproduction—the supp ...
, reduced energy usage, minimal
ecological footprint
The ecological footprint is a method promoted by the Global Footprint Network to measure human demand on natural capital, i.e. the quantity of nature it takes to support people or an economy. It tracks this demand through an ecological accounti ...
, fewer
consumer packaged goods
Fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), also known as consumer packaged goods (CPG), are products that are sold quickly and at a relatively low cost. Examples include non-durable household goods such as packaged foods, beverages, toiletries, cand ...
,
local purchasing
Local purchasing is a preference to buy locally produced goods and services rather than those produced farther away. It is very often abbreviated as a positive goal, "buy local" or "buy locally', that parallels the phrase "think globally, act loc ...
with
short food supply chains
A broad range of food production-distribution-consumption configurations can be characterised as short food supply chain (SFSCs), such as farmers' markets, farm shops, collective farmers' shops, community-supported agriculture and solidarity purch ...
, little
processed foods
Convenience food, also called tertiary processed food, is food that is commercially prepared (often through processing) to optimise ease of consumption. Such food is usually ready to eat without further preparation. It may also be easily por ...
, etc.
Less products and packaging would be needed in a sustainable
carbon neutral
Carbon neutrality is a state of net-zero carbon dioxide emissions. This can be achieved by balancing emissions of carbon dioxide with its removal (often through carbon offsetting) or by eliminating emissions from society (the transition to the "p ...
economy, which means that fewer options would exist and simpler and more durable forms may be necessary.
See also
*
Circular economy
A circular economy (also referred to as circularity and CE) is a model of production and consumption, which involves sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling existing materials and products as long as possible. CE aims ...
*
Cradle to Cradle Design
*
Design life
The design life of a component or product is the period of time during which the item is expected by its designers to work within its specified parameters; in other words, the life expectancy of the item. It is not always the actual length of tim ...
*
Downcycling
Downcycling, or cascading, is the recycling of waste where the recycled material is of lower quality and functionality than the original material. Often, this is due to the accumulation of tramp elements in secondary metals, which may exclude the ...
*
Durability
Durability is the ability of a physical product to remain functional, without requiring excessive maintenance or repair, when faced with the challenges of normal operation over its design lifetime. There are several measures of durability in us ...
*
Green brands Green brands are those brands that consumers associate with environmental conservation and sustainable business practices.
Such brands appeal to consumers who are becoming more aware of the need to protect the environment. A green brand can add a u ...
*
Greenwashing
Greenwashing (a compound word modeled on "whitewash"), also called "green sheen", is a form of advertising or marketing spin in which green PR and green marketing are deceptively used to persuade the public that an organization's products, aims ...
*
Maintainability
In engineering, maintainability is the ease with which a product can be maintained to:
* correct defects or their cause,
* Repair or replace faulty or worn-out components without having to replace still working parts,
* prevent unexpected working ...
*
Product life
Product lifetime or product lifespan is the time interval from when a product is sold to when it is discarded.
Product lifetime is slightly different from service life because the latter consider only the effective time the product is used. It is ...
*
Upcycling
Upcycling, also known as creative reuse, is the process of transforming by-products, waste materials, useless, or unwanted products into new materials or products perceived to be of greater quality, such as artistic value or environmental value ...
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Life cycle assessment
Life cycle assessment or LCA (also known as life cycle analysis) is a methodology for assessing environmental impacts associated with all the stages of the life cycle of a commercial product, process, or service. For instance, in the case o ...
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Index of sustainability articles
This page is an index of sustainability articles.
A
Adiabatic lapse rate -
Air pollution control -
Air pollution dispersion modeling -
Allotment (gardening) -
Alternative energy -
Anaerobic digestion -
Anthropogenic -
Anthroposystem -
App ...
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Environmentally friendly
Environment friendly processes, or environmental-friendly processes (also referred to as eco-friendly, nature-friendly, and green), are sustainability and marketing terms referring to goods and services, laws, guidelines and policies that clai ...
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Sustainable consumption
Sustainable consumption (sometimes abbreviated to "SC") is the use of products and services in ways that minimize impacts on the environment in order for human needs to be met in the present but also for future generations. Sustainable consumption ...
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Sustainable living
Sustainable living describes a lifestyle that attempts to reduce the use of Earth's natural resources by an individual or society. It is referred to as zero wastage living" or "net zero living". Its practitioners often attempt to reduce their e ...
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Sustainable product development
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Zero waste
Zero waste is a set of principles focused on waste prevention that encourages redesigning resource life cycles so that all products are reused. The goal of this movement is to avoid sending trash to landfills, incinerators, or the ocean. Curren ...
References
Sustainable Product: Definition and Examples
External links
Sustainability of Products, Processes and Supply Chains: Theory and Applications (2015) Elsevier. .
{{Sustainability
Products and the environment
Sustainable business
Sustainable design