Key Areas of Action

Consumers have become increasingly aware of companies deliberately reducing the useful life of a product through planned or built-in obsolescence, along with its negative environmental impact. Designing products with the clear intention of extending their useful life, reduces the need to overproduce, minimising waste and optimising resources; and gears the economy towards circularity.

Against this background, product designers should consider eco-design strategies to develop products that fulfil the technical, aesthetic and functional expectations of the consumer for as long as possible (case study 0 “Ecodesign to extend the useful life of products”). Eco-design seeks to minimise products' environmental impacts during their life-cycle, which is to say during fabrication, use and disposal. Combined with life-cycle analysis (LCA), eco-design also covers product durability, reusability, and recyclability.

Impacts and benefits

The impact of eco-design is primarily measured in resource and energy consumption, but factors such as the toxicity of a product, the repairability, or the recyclability are also taken into account. A company can get a clear view by measuring the cost savings due to lower material, energy and water and waste costs, in comparison with the manufacturing of a conventional product.

Technical aspects and implementation

The case study 0 “Ecodesign to extend the useful life of products” outlines specific strategies to be implemented in order to increase a product’s durability, reusability and recyclability, by avoiding failures of a technical, aesthetic and functional nature. Eco-design strategies to avoid technical failures refer to a situation when the product ceases to function, while eco-design strategies to avoid aesthetic failures refer to cases when the product is no longer fashionable or appeals to the user. Eco-design strategies to avoid functional failures include situations when the product is no longer able to meet the technical or functional needs or expectations of the user.

Through changing consumption habits, such as the rise of e-commerce, the demand for packaging increases. Packaging and packaging waste have become key subjects on the political agenda in the EU and in some EU Members States both through the implementation of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive and associated Extended Producer Responsibility schemes. At the same time, customers are demanding better, greener and more sustainable packaging alternatives such as packaging made from recycled (e.g. paper, plastic) or bio-based materials and reusable packaging. In order to save resources in line with circular economy and environmental principles, sustainable packaging issues should be integrated into everyday business processes. 

Examples for sustainable packaging practices are lightweighting, bulk packaging, refills (case study 69 “Sustainable packaging in food and drink industry”), use of recycled materials, such as moulded cellulose packaging (case study 131 “SOUL, sustainable packaging for eggs”), or innovative biopolymers from cheese byproducts as a green packaging solution (case study 321 “Packaging made from biopolymers”).

Impacts and benefits

The environmental effect of initiatives within the scope of sustainable packaging varies a lot. Nevertheless, reduction, re-use and recycling is recommended for all packaging types due to significant savings in energy, emissions and raw material. Overall, the use of sustainable packaging can result into less waste and bring not only environmental but also economic benefits. In the case study 321 on “Packaging made from biopolymers”, using whey means new product and market opportunities, as well as a 15% lower environmental impact compared to similar weight synthetic versions.

Packaging requirements may become more strict in the future. With an increasing consumer awareness in addition, companies investing in sustainable packaging already today can gain a competitive advantage considering future demands.

Technical aspects and implementation

There are different ways of making packaging more sustainable and resource efficient, presented and explained in the case study 69 “Sustainable packaging in food and drink industry” :

• Reducing packaging weight (lightweighting)
• Bulk packaging
• Refillable packaging
• Returnable packaging
• Packaging using recycled material
• Bioplastic packaging

Moreover, some overarching packaging design principles that can be applied to improve sustainability (case study 104 “Optimised packaging: reusable, lighter, biodegradable”) include:

• Use fewer materials in any single packaging solution to make recycling easier.
• Use mono-materials where possible.
• Design for ease of separation of parts made of different materials to aid recycling.
• Communicate the packaging material and recycling message.
• Design packaging so that all contents can be easily extracted.
• Avoid extraneous or additional items on sales packaging as they may contaminate recycling streams (e.g. sticky labels)
• Package goods in the right quantities to eliminate products going to waste. This holds especially for perishable and fresh products (food) and to a lesser extent cosmetics.

Measuring and tracking resource use (energy, water and raw materials) is a key skill that all organisations should master, regardless of size or sector. It can help to identify patterns of wasteful behaviour and opportunities to improve environmental performance and save money. A material audit is a practical tool for companies to improve the efficiency of their operations and manage their material flows.

One way is to focus on the input and use of raw materials. An Austrian glass producer (case study 212 “Efficient glass production saves energy and material in food and beverage industry”) increased the share of recycled material which decreased raw materials but also lead to reduced energy use. Another approach is focusing on residues emerging during the production is a tofu making factory (case study 235 “Successful material audit in tofu-making factory”). In addition, material audits can reveal energy recovery potentials (case study32 "Meat and food company saves through continuous improvement").

Impacts and benefits

The impact and payback time of a material audit depends strongly on the price and environmental impact per tonne of the material being saved.

An Austrian glass producer (case study 212 “Efficient glass production saves energy and material in food and beverage industry”) also showed promising results for increasing the share of recycled material, resulting in lowering the use of energy and emission of CO2 by respectively 3% and 7% for every 10% of recycled glass. A Finnish meat and food company (case study 235 “Successful material audit in tofu-making factory”) aimed to continuously improve its efficient use of raw materials and resources like water and energy through a production development program. It has subsequently developed production methods and cutting processes for its chicken business and reduced overall raw material needs, generating annual savings of about 1.000.000 EUR and cutting its primary energy use by around 1.500 Mwh per year. In addition, the company also invested furtherly in energy efficiency, in the form of a heat recovery system, replacing primary heat demand by a stunning 70.000 Mwh per year. A tofu making company (case study 235 “Successful material audit in tofu-making factory”) who undertook a material audit also noted that, on top of lowering electricity consumption and increasing relative energy efficiency, the audit also lead to an increase of net revenues, reduced packaging of raw material deliveries, solved issues on overpackaging and halving production residues.

Technical aspects and implementation

Monitoring material efficiency, energy performance, and productivity can be ad-hoc or more systematic, depending on the organisation and its sustainability goals. Systematic monitoring and publishing the results achieved can also be used to motivate employees to save materials and energy. Data can be recorded by sensors/programmable controllers or manually gathered, and then stored in a central information system for further analysis aimed at identifying inefficiencies.

With material audits, it is possible to identify those stages of the production process where reductions can be made in the use of materials, the amount of waste that is produced and environmental impacts. The audit also brings significant financial savings. They can be performed internally, or collaboratively between the company and an external consultant. The consultant is responsible for the work’s progress and reporting, bringing to the process his/her specialist experience and outsider’s perspective. The audit draws on the enterprise’s own expertise and skills in initial data collection, assessing the production processes, and in identifying improvement targets.  A material audit also draws attention to the proper training of staff and clarification of responsibilities, generating a more innovative workforce for the longer term.

The efficient use of resources in industry all other sectors can lead to cost savings in terms of energy, water and materials, improve competitiveness as well as sustainability and marketing opportunities.

Starting with undertaking a resource efficiency audit, a company or organization can identify what resources they rely on, why and how they can improve the efficiency of its use. A resource audit can for example result in ambition to more efficiency in water use (case study 43 “Resource efficiency ambitions translate into savings in garden centre”), or changes in energy inputs (case study 54 “Enterprise resource planning benefits a bakery”). Innovative technologies and good practices can help to improve products and processes to use resources more efficiently.   

Creating incentives around efficient energy and resource use in the company and training staff to be more conscious about resources and waste production, can lead to overall improvements in staff motivation that translates into better business performance and operational efficiency.

Impacts and benefits

The range of possible activities for increased resource efficiency is very broad. It allows for cost savings in terms of energy, water and materials and ultimately leads to an environment where diminishing resources are used in a more conscious way.

Creating incentives around energy and resource use in the company and training staff translates into better business performance and operational efficiency. This can generate cost-savings on inputs (raw materials) and outputs (waste or unused materials), as well as strengthen the innovation culture in an enterprise or organisation.

A Scottish EU-funded project showed, for example, promising results in minimising resource consumption. A family-owned business (case study 43 “Resource efficiency ambitions translate into savings in garden centre”) that operates garden centres undertook a resource efficiency audit, which revealed several areas where improvement was possible, and resources could be used more efficiently.

Technical aspects and implementation

In order to know which initiatives to take, it is advised to undertake a resource efficiency audit, monitoring and analysing the consumption of energy, water and other resources and identifying areas of improvement.

Positive incentives for employees to reduce resource use can be applied:

• Direct and prompt feedback on achieved savings, e.g., information on energy consumption and savings can strengthen the motivation to keep up the effort and save even more resources;
• Competitions and prizes for the best ideas to save resources or energy, which can be rated and measured according to the success of the measure (winners could be presented at company events, via posters or on the intranet, etc.);
• Employee involvement and engagement via an idea management process that rewards proactivity;
• Financial rewards or bonuses for all staff if energy use decreases, thus sharing the saved costs among staff (monetary or material prizes for competition winners), and the feeling of being part of something bigger;
• Promotion of success stories to promote and value resource-saving behaviour, but also innovation and idea promotion, and general communication measures.

Industrial symbiosis is a concept based on bringing companies together in innovative cooperations and synergies and find ways to use and exchange resources (waste, co- or by-products, water, thermal or electric energy or unused capacity) of one as a raw material, input or capacity for the other.

Local or regional cooperation in industrial symbiosis can reduce the need for primary raw materials and waste treatment, closing the material loop - a fundamental feature of the circular economy and a driver for green growth and eco-innovative solutions. It can reduce emissions and energy use and create new revenue streams.

Impacts and benefits

Industrial symbiosis is a collective approach introducing synergies to share material and energy streams among businesses in a local or regional scope. Industrial symbiosis reduces costs and generates new value streams for the companies involved, as well as creating significant environmental benefits such as reduced landfill and greenhouse gas emissions (due to the re-use of secondary materials instead of the use of emissions-intensive primary materials). The economic activity generated has further social benefits such as the creation of new businesses and jobs.

An industrial symbiotic system in Denmark (case study 326 “Industrial symbiosis ecosystem in Denmark”), which came to life in the 1960’s, and continuously grows shows particularly significant results. Measures such as recycling and re-using materials, and generating biogas results in yearly CO2 emissions savings of estimated 275.000 tonnes.

Technical aspects and implementation

Industrial symbiosis is an association between two or more industrial facilities or companies in which the resources (waste, co- or by-products, water, thermal or electric energy or unused capacity) of one become the raw materials for another. This is usually done for both commercial and environmental reasons. It involves a collective approach to competitive advantage through physical exchange of material and energy streams. Typical examples of materials sold to other businesses are shredded tyres, plastic pellets, or energy flows such as steam or heat. 

The companies involved may be producing the same things or in completely different sectors. Although it may not be the best environmental option to transport low-value/grade materials and heat over large distances, for some material streams it is possible to share in a larger scope and thus industrial symbiosis is not always exclusively a regional solutions.