How to implement an Eco-design Strategy for your Product ?

How to implement an Eco-design Strategy for your Product ?

R&D departments in many Companies are now focused on Eco-friendly solutions to redesign their products and create new offers which suit the final customer’s needs.

Eco-design is a way to challenge your marketing, innovation, production and distribution departments in order to boost your sales and rethink your business model.

However eco-design is more and more used by Companies, you can’t strike out without a real strategy. There are key steps which will help you implement a suitable alternative on the market and avoid greenwashing.

1- Do a LCA (Life Cycle Analysis) of your product to improve its environmental impact.

A Life Cycle Analysis evaluates diverse impacts that a product can have during its life from conception to its end of life. There are 5 key steps to analyze :

• Sourcing of raw materials

• Production

• Release to the public

• Use

• End of life management

After this, you’ll be able to define which points of your product’s life cycle you need to work on to achieve your environmental goals.

2- Develop your eco-design strategy

To do this, you need to select the approach that suits the best to your product.

Answer these questions :

• Do you want to optimize the resources’ use ?

• Do you want to put in place a sustainable sourcing ?

• Do you want your product to be recyclable ?

According to your answers, you will have different approaches. For instance, if you want to optimize the resources’ use, you will look for recycled materials or reduce the use of materials, while if you want to do a sustainable sourcing, you will look for raw materials alternatives, responsible suppliers etc.