|
Environmental management in product chains 10 The role of governmental regulation
This chapter analyses the role of different types of governmental regulation in the shaping of environmental management in product chains. By governmental regulation is also meant regulation issued by other actors than local or national governmental authorities. The cases show several examples where different types of governmental regulation has been important as driving force or barrier in the shaping and embedding of the environmental initiatives in product chains. The analyses of the cases have identified the following types of governmental and international regulation as important in the shaping and embedding of the initiatives:
The following paragraphs analyse the role of the different types of regulation, including interaction between the different types of regulation. 10.1 Public funding for innovation, competence development etc.Some of the initiatives have been started because of public support for development projects within the Danish cleaner products programme and support for implementation of environmental management. Three of the initiatives with implementation of life cycle assessment have been supported through funding for dissemination of life cycle assessment as part of the efforts from the Danish Environmental Protection Agency for the further development and application of life cycle assessment as tool in environmental management and product design. However, the results of the two of the cases seems limited in terms of LCA achievements, since the partners in two of the projects found the provided LCA-model too time-consuming and too data demanding. One important barrier was the problems with collection of the necessary data from suppliers due to the limited role of the companies as customers with several of their suppliers. One company decided in stead to focus on an eco-label for a product, because it turned out to be easier to make the suppliers answer rather specific questions concerning their use (or non-use) of specific chemicals. The programme for cleaner products also supported a project developing a supply chain management system (focusing on environment, work environment and quality) in a textile company. Earlier on, projects on environmental management and cleaner technology in the printing industry were supported by a programme for cleaner technology and for employment of unemployed academia in business as environmental coordinators. There was a strong interaction between these projects and the initial phase of public green procurement, where printed products were an important product group in focus. A project with development of environmental product declarations for a certain type of concrete products was supported by the programme for implementation of environmental management funded by the Danish Agency for Development of Trade and Industry and the Danish Environmental Protection Agency. This project seems to have been part of a branch project, since the programme only supported branch-oriented projects and not specific companies unless it was aiming at providing experience for the whole branch. Finally, there is one example of governmental support from a non-environmental programme. A centre for so-called resource-saving concrete constructions with a number of the companies and consultants within design and manufacturing of concrete and the Danish Agency for Roads were supported by a programme for centre contracts managed by the Danish Agency for Development of Trade and Industry. The programme aimed at supporting targeted and strategic innovation projects. The aim was to develop and test new forms of concrete using rather high amounts of residual products as a substitute for a part of the cement in the concrete, whereby the amount of greenhouse gasses from the production of cement for a concrete construction was reduced. The project was seen a contribution to the fulfilment of Danish target for reduction of Danish emissions of greenhouse gasses according to the Kyoto protocol. This project shows interaction between two types of governmental regulation. An international agreement (although not officially sanctioned at that time) acted as guidance for environmental innovation activities, which were supported by an innovation programme. The project shows also another (intended) interaction with governmental regulation, since it was the expectations of the participants in the centre that the experience with the new forms of concrete would inspire changes in the Danish rules for construction of roads and bridges, the co-called Road Rules. These rules act as a kind of standard for the public tenders within the area. 10.2 Regulation of chemicalsThe Danish regulation of chemicals, in terms of the so-called list of unwanted chemicals, has provided guidance for some companies focusing on substitution of hazardous chemicals applied in the manufacturing of their products. Another way that regulation of chemicals has shaped some of the cases is through demands from foreign industrial customers in order for them to meet demands for the application of chemicals in their manufacturing processes and/or in their products. 10.2.1 Waste management regulationThe increased fees on waste management have shaped two cases. A national initiative on recycling of waste plasterboard material from construction sites was initiated based on a wish for recycling of plasterboard waste to a manufacturer of plasterboard material from a big renovation project. This wish from the renovation project might have been inspired by the fees on waste for landfilling, like the manufacturer’s efforts for reduction of landfilling from their own production. Due to the wish from the renovation project, the manufacturer of plasterboard decided to initiate a project on the development of a national scheme for collection of plasterboard waste. Guidelines for the quality of the waste, which should be accepted for recycling, were developed in co-operation with the other major manufacturer of plasterboard and two inter-municipal waste management companies. However, the need for every municipal administration to allow this form of collection for recycling as part of their local waste management regulation turned out to be a weak point in the implementation of the scheme, since only a few municipalities have signed the agreement. However, the development of the scheme with respect to logistics and the type of plasterboard, which is recyclable, has continued. The barrier with the differences in the municipal waste management schemes has been a barrier to the other initiative within recycling of residual materials, in this case a project on recycling of plastic waste. 10.3 Product standardsThe role of standards for construction materials (concrete and plasterboard) has already been mentioned as an important condition for integration of quality aspects into the development of products (partly) based on use of residual products as raw materials. Another example is the role of the European Directive on Construction Products, which initiated an enquiry from a big Swedish company to a Danish manufacturer whether a number of chemical products were included in the components the company was delivering to the Swedish company. This enquiry inspired the Danish company to further develop their database with information about the many components, which the company is selling, and develop guidelines for integration of environmental concerns into the development of new products. 10.4 Public green procurementThe demand for public green procurement in national governmental administrations and institutions, and the focus on this in municipal and regional administrations and institutions, has implied an interest for the development of “greener” products in a number of the cases. In several of these cases there is an interaction with eco-labelling. Several companies, within printed goods, furniture, sanitation products and detergents, have used eco-labelling criteria as guidance in their product development. However, most of the cases show no or very limited interest from the governmental institutions for buying these products. The problem seems to be an increased price (in some cases) and the turnover fee for eco-labelled products. Often the manufacturer add this turnover fee to the product price, which make some customers ask for the eco-labelled quality, but without the label on the product in order to avoid the turnover fee. Only within printed goods there is some demand for eco-labelled products, but also here governmental customers ask for products without the label. The two printing houses print only eco-labelled quality, but the lack of the physical eco-label on a part of the products reduces the visibility of the eco-label and reduces thereby the potential dissemination of the eco-label. The restricted governmental budgets and the surplus price on many eco-labelled products limit together eco-labelling as environmental strategy. It is not clear to what extent the eco-labelled products are more expensive – apart from the turnover fee – and whether surplus prices mirror actual surplus product costs. The case with eco-labelled napkins shows extra product costs of around 4%. 10.5 Eco-labellingBesides the interaction with public green procurement as described above, eco-labelling has also had a role in one of the initiatives, where eco-labelling criteria together with the list of unwanted substances acted as guidance for the development of an environmental declaration on metal products. The list and the eco-labelling criteria help identifying criteria for what information to include in the environmental product declaration. 10.6 Product panelsThe product panels are not mentioned in any of the cases, but in relation to the dissemination of the eco-label within the textile and clothing sector the textile product panel played an important role in bringing together actors within the supply side (the manufacturers and the designers), the demand side (the retailers) and the knowledge system (NGO’s). These panels can be seen as a case within the policy network governance paradigm. As mentioned, it has had an important role in the interaction with eco-labelling as strategy within the sector, although the actual market share still is very limited. The product panels have similarities to the centre on concrete constructions, which also included demand, supply and the knowledge system. 10.7 ISO 14001 standardThe standard on environmental management systems has played a role in a number of cases. Some companies have engaged in initiatives in product chains as part of their implementation of an environmental management system. One company describes how the environmental management system was helpful in the data collection when answering an enquiry from a customer. Some other companies have implemented an environmental management system as part of their involvement in one of the product chain initiatives. 10.8 The Kyoto-protocolThe role of the Kyoto protocol as an example of an international environmental agreement inspiring specific initiatives for fulfilment of national targets has already been mentioned in relation to the development of concrete products with a high content of residual products (from incineration of waste water sludge).
|