Handbook on environmental assessment of products
1. Define the task
1.1 Describe the goal of the environmental assessment
The goal and scope definition of the environmental assessment depends on its intended use. When you need to decide whether you have reached a sufficient level of detail, you compare the environmental assessment with the goal definition. Instead of stating a goal such as "product development", it may be easier to relate to specific questions. Later, you need to decide whether the environmental assessment provides answers to these questions with sufficient certainty.
The questions you ask may focus on establishing an overview, or they may be target-specific. When you first carry out an environmental assessment, you will typically need to form an overview. It does not matter whether this overview will be used for product development, marketing, or something else entirely. Later, when you have identified the areas which are most significant to your product, you can ask more target-specific questions.
When you want to establish an overview, you might ask questions like these:
 | Which sources cause the environmental impact? |
| What phases should we focus on if we wish to reduce the environmental impact of our product? |
| How do we achieve the best possible value for money in environmental terms? |
Examples of target-specific questions would be:
| Would it be a good idea to replace the current insulation material with expanded polystyrene? |
| Would the environmental profile be improved if the brass handle is replaced by a handle made from plastic? |
| Would it be better to used water-based paint instead of paint based on solvents? |
There may be several reasons for choosing a particular product. Examples of such reasons include:
| The product is very representative of the company and accounts for most of the production. |
| The product attracts a lot of attention in environmental terms among customers. For example, it may be that a buyer's guide is underway for the product type. |
| It would be easy for the company to assess this particular product, and the necessary data for environmental assessment is readily available within the company. |
| The company is about to develop the next generation of the product and is interested in incorporating environmental concerns when developing the new product; this is to say that the product will serve as a reference for product development. |
| The product is suspected of being problematic in environmental terms, and/or there is great scope for environmental improvements. |
Other issues might also enter the picture, but the reasons stated above are typical. The decisive aspect varies, and not all conditions apply to any given product.
Consider the basis for your choice of product for the environmental assessment. |
If you want to establish an overview and you are carrying out an environmental assessment
for the first time, you would be well advised to choose your product carefully. When you
embark on your first environmental assessment, it would be best to work with a product
which can be handled with relative ease– one for which data is readily available.
This will keep you from running into more obstacles than are absolutely necessary as
regards data collection.
If you need to use the product as a reference for product development, you should carefully consider whether it can be compared to the planned new product. For example, will the service provided by the new product be the same as for the reference product? See section 1.3.
If your goal definition includes target-specific questions, you will probably already have chosen your product. If not, you may want to consider the points outlined above.
1.3 Define the service provided by the productThe first step of any environmental assessment involves defining and describing the service provided by the product. By this, we mean anything and everything that the product delivers when meeting the user's needs. Why does the customer buy the product? What does the product deliver?
1.3.1 What is comparable?It is important to identify the service provided by the product because an environmental assessment always involves comparisons. First of all, there are no truly "environmentally friendly" products; only products which are less harmful to the environment than comparable products. All products are made from materials which require the consumption of resources and energy. Some products, however, use less than others and so are better for the environment.
Secondly, environmental assessments are made to be used. And when they are used, it is for comparisons: What can be done in a better way? What is our position compared to the competitor's product? Even if all you really want to do is to prepare neutral environmental consumer information about a product, comparisons enter the picture: the person reading this information will assess whether it looks good or bad.
When two products are compared, or when potential changes are compared with an existing product, the service provided by the two products must be identical. You cannot compare A with B and claim that A is more environmentally friendly if A does not even supply the same service as B, meaning that customers would never buy A instead of B.
Example B1.1: The service provided by products Hospital coats (a fictional example) A hospital buys coats to be worn by the staff, and these coats are washed every day. Coats are washed approximately 100 times before being thrown away. They are available in pure cotton and in a mixture of polyester and cotton. For certain coats made from a blend of polyester and cotton, the cotton fibres are gradually washed out, and once they have been washed 20 times they start developing static electricity, absorb less moisture and become increasingly transparent. This makes many nurses wear t-shirts underneath their coats, which is less frequently seen among nurses who are equipped with coats made from pure cotton. This is to say that the service provided by the coat went beyond being a hygienic and suitably warm hospital uniform: it also needs to feel pleasant against the skin, absorb moisture and preserve modesty. If you fail to realise this, you will think that a coat made from cotton can be compared directly with a coat made from a polyester and cotton blend. This is not, however, the case. A cotton coat must be compared to a coat made from polyester and cotton and x per cent of a t-shirt. Paints (a fictional example) We buy paint to decorate and protect surfaces. Paints can be water-based or turpentine-based. Let us say that you need 1.3 litres of turpentine-based paint, but only 1 litre of water-based paint to cover a given surface. The surface is, however, located outdoors, and water-based paints do not last as long outdoors as those based on turpentine. This means that you will need to repaint the surface twice as often if you choose water-based paint. This is to say that the service provided by the product is not just to decorate and protect the surface, but to decorate and protect the surface for X number of years. The duration of the product is part of the service it provides. We initially thought we were supposed to compare 1.3 litres of turpentinebased paint with 1 litre of water-based paint. This was not, however, the case. In fact, what we should be doing was to compare 1.3 litres of turpentine-based paint with 2 litres of water-based paint. |
As you can see, it is important to identify the real service provided by the product. If you make a mistake here, your environmental assessment will be very nearly useless. So be careful when you describe the service provided. |
Speak to your colleagues from Sales and Marketing about the service provided by the
product. They will know a great deal about the requirements and desires of customers,
including end users, as these aspects are important to overall sales and marketing
strategies.
In the final analysis, the customer is the one who decides what the service provided by the product really is. Not you, not anyone else at your company, not even the person who invented or developed the product (even though it would probably be a good idea to ask that person if you can get a hold of him/her). Think back to the example of the hospital coat: the nurses chose to wear t-shirts when handed polyester/cotton coats. In this way, they indicated and decided that the coats made from cotton supply a service which the polyester/cotton coats do not provide. See example B1.1.
1.3.2 What are the obligatory and positioning properties of a product?
You need to identify the important properties of the product. The properties which customers focus on. Some properties are known as obligatory properties; they are the ones which products need to have in order to be in the market. Obligatory properties can either be born out of legislation (cars must have brakes) or fixed customer requirements which almost all products within the market fulfil (hospital coats are white, TVs have remote controls). Other properties are known as positioning properties. They are the ones which can make the product more attractive compared to other products.
The company already knows the obligatory properties. They are either laid down in the law or so firmly established within the market that it would be unthinkable to manufacture a product which does not live up to them. The positioning properties vary much more in scope and strength: some are very important sales points, while others are more marginal.
To illustrate obligatory and positioning properties in more practical terms, a coffee maker is used as an example below.
|
|||
Obligatory properties Making coffee Keeping the coffee warm Meeting CE labelling requirements, including fire safety requirements |
Positioning properties The time used to make coffee Volume Temperature Stand-by temperature Stand-by time/automatic switch-off function Ease of cleaning Design Moveable filter element See-through pot Coffee aroma Indication of volume on the pot Indication of water level on the coffee maker Price Durability Programme functions |
||
1.3.2.1 What market segments and niches exist?
The market can be separated into segments and niches which rank the positioning parameters in varying orders. Within one niche, price, speed and ease of cleaning may be crucial (e.g. within sales to offices and canteens), while design and aroma may be crucial factors within other segments (e.g. private homes).
1.3.2.2 Which properties are important?
Start by making a list of all the positioning properties of the product, and then consider which properties are most important within the company's main markets. This initial list represents a brainstorming process, and it is important that you are not critical during this first phase. The most important properties must be respected – including those of any new versions of the product – but the less important ones might be replaced with others or excluded altogether.
Usually, extra functionalities cost money and have additional environmental impacts, and a product with more features than the customers want will usually make little business sense and harm the environment.
Note that some products have virtually no positioning properties, while others have many.
1.3.3 Define the functional unit
It is not enough to describe the service in qualitative service as shown in table 1.1. The service provided should not just be identical in nature, but also in scope, as demonstrated by the example with the paints.
When you attribute numbers to the scope of the service, we say that you are defining the functional unit. This comprises a total of three parts:
- A quantity (amount, volume, etc.)
- A duration
- Qualities/properties
The customers must perceive these factors as comparable for products which form part of environmental comparisons. This is where the obligatory properties and the significant positioning properties are addressed.
Example B1.3: Hospital coats (a fictional example) When we used hospital coat as an example above, we forgot to address the duration of the service (how long the coats last). For poorer qualities, coats made from polyester and cotton do not last as long as coats made form pure cotton. Where a poorquality cotton coat will withstand 60 washes, a poor-quality polyester/cotton coat might only withstand 40 washes. This is to say that you will need 50 per cent more polyester/cotton coats as well as a certain number of t-shirts to ensure the same duration of service. |
Below is an example of how the functional unit can be described for a coffee maker.
|
||||
|
Obligatory properties |
Positioning properties |
||
Quantity |
Making one litre of coffee twice a day |
|
||
Duration |
Seven days a week for five years |
|
||
Qualities/ properties |
Brewing coffee Keeping the coffee warm – temperature (82º Centigrade) |
Brewing temperature (94º Centigrade) Maintaining the aroma Time needed for making coffee (8 minutes) Price (DKK 500 – 600) Stylish design Long life |
||
In example B1.4 (the coffee maker), we have assumed that the product is mainly sold within
the market segment "private homes", specifically within the niche "affluent
homes".
This is the service which the coffee maker needs to supply in order to compete within this part of the market. New and more environmentally friendly products also need to deliver this service. Otherwise, the type of customer we cater to will not select them, and if they are not selected, no benefits to the environment will materialise. A more environmentally friendly product will only generate environmental advantages if it replaces another, more harmful product.
Below are a number of examples of definitions of the functional unit of a number of products. The products have been deliberately selected to create a table which can serve as inspiration within many different areas. Please note that positioning properties had only been defined for few of the products.
Example B1.5: Examples of definitions of functional units |
|||
Product/functional unit |
Quantity |
Duration |
Qualitative properties |
Water heater |
Delivering 110 litres of water every day at a temperature of 55º centigrade |
15 years |
Meets the norm: NP-197-N Thermostat adjusted Safeguarded against overflow An attractive appearance (positioning) |
Drainage pipe |
Leading away household wastewater in quantities of 2.2 and 46 l/sec at inclines of 1 and 400 per thousand, respectively, along a straight stretch of 10 m in length |
80 years |
Obligatory properties concerning peak loads or median capacity, tightness, natural purification, carrying capacity, and resistance to chemicals in accordance with DS standards |
Water tap |
Mixing cold and warm water to reach the desired temperature while also adjusting flow speeds |
210,000 openings |
Single-grip fitting. Must meet the requirements laid down in EN 817 and be VA approved |
Cleaning agent |
Treating 1000 m2 of linoleum flooring |
1 year |
Purity 4-5 |
Chemicals for textile dyeing |
Dyeing yarn |
100 kg yarn |
Specific quality and nuance (as dictated by DIN standards) |
Foam for chair seats |
Providing a seat for a single person at a workplace |
10 years |
Sufficient hardness and resistance to tears. Must meet fire requirements and successfully pass the tests laid down in BS 5852: part 2: 1998 |
1.3.4 Identify the secondary services provided by the product
By now, you should have a firm grip on what it is your product supplies, i.e. what your company should look at when optimising the product and improving its environmental characteristics. Selling this service – as described by means of the functional unit – is how your company makes a living. But the product almost always delivers a number of other services besides those initially conceived of by the company and customer. We call these services "secondary services". In most cases, secondary services are incidental, and they can typically be recovered, e.g. in connection with reuse.
Example B1.6: Reuse of raw materials from a coffee maker? When you manufacture a coffee maker, the end result is more than a just a coffee maker: it also constitutes raw materials for e.g. beer bottles (if the glass pot is placed in a recycling bin upon disposal) and for heat generation (if, for example, the plastic parts end up in a Danish incineration plant after disposal). |
Example B1.7: Excess heat from electrical household appliances One example of a secondary service would be excess heat from electrical domestic appliances, e.g. washing machines, computers, or television. Such appliances generate a lot of heat which helps heat our homes. In this way, they partly replace oil or other fuels used for heating. Of course, this benefit applies only in cooler climates; in warmer areas, the excess heat simply generates a need for more air conditioning. |
1.3.5 Plan the secondary services when constructing your product
Secondary services become increasingly important as society strives to use all resources and all energy as efficiently as possible. Many companies are now taking the next logical step: when we know that the raw materials will in fact be reused in some way, why not take this into account and plan for the best possible service right from the start, including secondary services? Society will benefit from this so much that the general development is sure to go that way.