Cleaner products - new tools, players and relationships

Foreword

In connection with the establishment of the Product Oriented Environmental Initiative, the Environmental Protection Agency wished to undertake a sub-evaluation of the projects initiated under the cleaner technology action plan in relation to the sectors and areas which have been initially under focus in the Product Oriented Environmental Initiative.

Evaluation

The purpose of this evaluation has been to assess experience from the initiatives to date against the intentions of the action plan, and to provide constructive input to help flesh out a future product-oriented initiative, including the activities linked to the new programme for cleaner products.

Three sectors

The evaluation has focused on three selected sectors and on inter-sector product-oriented projects carried out under the Action Plan for Cleaner Technology 1993-97. The investigation has been carried out at the request of the Council for Recycling and Cleaner Technology. Experience with cleaner technologies has been evaluated in these three sectors:

The textiles and clothing industry
The electronics industry
The transport industry

The projects evaluated completely cover the period 1993-97 in these three sectors. Advance copies of the reports were sent to the appointed product panels in the three sectors in the middle of 1999, and have since been reported on as Environment Projects published by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Selection of product-oriented projects

In addition, a report has been written about the experiences and results from cleaner technology projects in the “products” category. In this connection, a selection of the product-oriented projects has been made in cooperation with the Environmental Protection Agency.

This report communicates the overall results of these evaluations and seeks to provide:

a general summary of the conclusions,
a sketch of the current direction in the cleaner technology strategy,
an indication of the challenges involved in the Product Oriented Environmental Initiative.

Looking back, and ahead

The general sketch of the projects completed might seem unreasonable, since this evaluation has been done with the initiation of the Product Oriented Environmental Initiative in mind. However, many of the projects were planned at a time when there was a different focus in the cleaner technology strategy. What follows should be read with this in mind: the evaluation is aimed constructively forwards, and as such the assessments may not do full justice to the results of the projects carried out.

Three main concepts

In chapter 1, the cleaner technology strategy up to the present time is outlined based on three main concepts: cleaner production processes, environmental management, and cleaner products. This is done with the aim of emphasising both that the focus has changed along the way in response to the experience gained, and that there is a potential dynamic in the concepts which can be employed in a product-oriented environmental initiative.

General conclusions

Chapter 2 summarises the main findings and the general conclusions from experiences with cleaner technology in the three sectors chosen. A number of recommendations are also put forward which specifically aim to pinpoint the challenges to the future Product Oriented Environmental Initiative in relation to the three main points of focus, i.e. products, players and the market.

Summaries from the sub-evaluations

In addition, chapter 3 contains the summaries from the four sub-evaluations of cleaner technology carried out in the textiles, electronics and goods transport sectors, and of selected product projects.

Evaluation team

Associate Professor Arne Remmen, MSc, PhD, was responsible for the evaluation. Research Assistants, Brian Dalby Rasmussen, Jette Holgaard and Research Lecturer Jesper Lassen have carried out the evaluations of the various sector initiatives. All of the above are from the Group for Cleaner Technology under the Department of Development and Planning at Aalborg University.

The evaluation was also carried out in association with the Centre for Social Research on the Environment (CESAM) under the Danish Environmental Research Programme.

Steering committee

A steering committee was appointed to monitor the evaluation, consisting of: Lise Fogh Pedersen (chairman), Preben Kristensen, Mariane Hounum, Ulla Ringbæk, Jørgen Jakobsen, and Kirsten Warnø – all from the Environmental Protection Agency, Tove Andersen, Federation of Danish Textiles and Clothing, Hans Dankert, the General Workers’ Union in Denmark (SID), Carl Thørner, the business association for the Danish electronics industry (EI), Karen Banke, the Danish Confederation of Trade Unions (LO), Tina Sternest, the Confederation of Danish Industries, Dorte Harning, the Directorate for the Working Environment Service, Niels Remtoft, the National Association of Local Authorities in Denmark, Allan Andersen, the Danish Society for the Conservation of Nature.

We would like to thank the steering committee for professional sparring along the way in the evaluation process. We would also like to thank the many project coordinators in the enterprises involved and the consultants who have given up time for interviews, questionnaires, follow-up questions, etc.

Special thanks go to our colleagues who have provided critical appraisal during the preparation of this report. In addition to the above, these were: Christian Poll and Tage Andersen, the Environmental Protection Agency and Michael Søgaard Jørgensen, the Technical University of Denmark (DTU).

Arne Remmen,
Aalborg University, March 2000