Memorandum by the Ecodesign Centre Wales
Following a sustained programme of activity over
a number of years in Wales Ecodesign Centre Wales (EDC) was established
in September 2006 as part of the Welsh Assembly Government's commitment
to sustainable development[7]
(SD) and through funding from the Materials Action Programme (MAP).[8]
EDC MISSION
EDC actively inspires and leads the Welsh Assembly
Government, public sector organisations and higher education to
enable effective ecodesign in Welsh Industry. We facilitate the
open sharing of knowledge and experience with fresh thinking and
integrity.
EDC advocate a joined up multi-stakeholder approach
and focuses on building capacity and capabilities in industry,
public sector organisations and higher education so that effective
ecodesign can happen in Wales.
Central to the activities of EDC is the delivery
of an ecodesign initiative that promotes creative approaches to
resource efficiency through four core elements;
— industry: enabling ecodesign;
— education: embedding ecodesign;
— research: international best-practice;
and
— communication: positioning and
promoting ecodesign.
This response is primarily based on the experiences
of the EDC team of engaging with business, in particular small
and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), over a diverse range of sectors
(including electronics and electrical equipment, design, general
manufacturing, food and drink, fashion and textiles, consumer
products) over the past number of years. The response also includes
the experiences of the EDC team of engaging with other key stakeholders
including higher education, government policy makers and NGOs.
Note: Throughout this response the terms "ecodesign"
and "sustainable design" are used interchangeably. EDC
view them as similar concepts depending on the context.
BETTER DESIGN
AND THE
USE OF
MATERIALS
What role can better design and materials play
in minimising the creation of waste?
Design can play a significant role, as part
of a multi-stakeholder approach, in minimising the creation of
waste through facilitating changes in business, consumer and government
culture including:
— designing waste out, ie taking
a life cycle approach where all materials and components employed
can be reused and recycled (ie closing the loop);
— influencing key stakeholders
to view waste as a resource to be tapped into (eg through targeted
campaigns, better pooling of recyclate suppliers through NISP,
incentives to encourage the testing and specification of post
consumer recyclate etc);
— using design as a strategic
process to introduce holistic life cycle thinking through all
aspects of business operations;
— employing design as a tool to
communicate the benefits of taking a triple bottom line, eg branding
could have a key role to play here; and
— design specifications are often
the primary link in value chains. The management and sustainability
of a design specification can influence more sustainable behaviour
in many companies including second and third tier suppliers.
Are there any barriers to how knowledge in this
area can best be translated and applied?
Barriers include:
— the need for all of the key
stakeholders to make this connection, ie be open-minded on the
value of design;
— lack of leadership, ie designers
can lead the way but all stakeholders need to take responsibility
and accountability from government through to the consumer;
— lack of "joined-up"
thinking, ie not building upon existing strengths and encouraging
growth and innovation in competitive, added value sectors;
— lack of government intervention/support
to help prove the case;
— a lack of, and poor communication
of, best practice examples, ie more results are required to prove
the case, particularly for SMEs, and these messages need to reach
the appropriate target audience;
— there is a lack of clear mechanisms
for communicating and transferring the required competencies through
the value chain. Some new regulatory approaches may improve this
eg REACH. Also, some companies are taking a proactive approach
to this—See http://www.nokia.com/A4211227 (an isolated example
many other companies do similar); and
— what factors influence the use
of materials? In what way do considerations of sustainability
feature in the selection of most commonly used materials?
Factors that influence the use of materials
are wide and varied ranging from aesthetics through to performance
and cost. Sustainability is not a key consideration at the moment
although more and more businesses are beginning to take certain
aspects of sustainability into consideration such as ease of material
recycling. This is more common practice with larger businesses
(ie companies such as Panasonic, Herman Miller). Drivers include
legislation, consumer demand and supply chain considerations.
New regulations such as REACH will potentially
have a positive influence on material selection. This is if the
required level of transparency and sharing of safety data is achieved.
To what extent do product designers and engineers
take into account the availability and the end of life impacts
of raw materials?
Generally for SMEs this is not viewed as a priority
at the moment. Some large businesses would take this into account
as part of their environmental and social responsibility or because
of legislative drivers (eg WEEE directive).
There are too few examples proving the application
of sustainable materials in products and therefore too many perceived
risks of using unproven materials.
There is poor access to knowledge on end-of-life
impacts of specific materials. LCAs and R&D are extremely
costly limiting further the data available for SMEs.
What impact does the development of new materials
have on design? How much interaction is there between material
scientists and designers?
New material development offers exciting opportunities
for design. Generally there is not enough interaction between
scientists and designers.
There are some negative impacts of new material
development on sustainability such as compatibility and recyclability.
These are difficult issues to communicate, hindered by the fact
that there can also be a lack of independent data available.
Can better designed products offset the increase
in consumption?
Better designed products have a key role to
play but in the long-term we need to facilitate a wider cultural
change across society in terms of needs and wants and in terms
of what we view as resource, ie functional products instead of
fashionable products.
Products (including materials) should bear their
true life cycle costs.
"Better design" generally perpetuates
consumption through creating cycles of dissatisfaction. eg latest
model and latest functionality. It is a subjective topic and we
would need to define "better design" ie is durable better?
And if it costs more, is that socially acceptable?
For some products a reorganisation of the business
model may be required eg through functional sales or product service
systems. It is important to note that product service systems
are not automatically more sustainable.
Are there any other gaps in knowledge and how
are they being addressed?
Crucially up to 99 per cent of businesses in
the UK are SMEs. Transferring the knowledge and experiences of
the larger businesses and other stakeholders (eg research centres,
NGOs, academia, support services, consultants etc) is crucial
if we are to move towards a culture where all stakeholders view
waste as a resource. We need to create appropriate platforms for
this to happen. It will take time and requires careful planning
but yet the approach needs to be flexible to account for the diverse
range of needs and situations (there is no "silver bullet").
As of yet this has not been addressed in any great depth. EDC
are currently working on an initiative to explore ways how these
platforms can be created through a unique capacity building approach.
This includes a demonstration project with four growth SMEs in
the manufacturing, electronics and food and drink sectors to gain
a clear understanding of how ecodesign can be embedded in their
business strategy. This includes gaining an understanding of both
the quantitative and qualitative indicators.
There are a small number of resources that offer
the opportunity for designers to select more sustainable materials—these
need to be better resourced, validated and marketed.[9]
Higher Education (HE) institutions are a key
component of long-term capacity building for ecodesign. There
are significant gaps in the HE curriculum.
BUSINESS FRAMEWORK
Does the current policy, regulatory and legal
framework support and incentivise the development of better, more
sustainable products and processes? How is the framework communicated
to businesses and what is the level of awareness and understanding
among businesses?
The current framework does not provide clear
incentives.
There are not clear channels of communication
to businesses. The current models do not appear to be reaching
the right audience. Communication needs to be substantially improved
especially in relation to targeting SMEs.
Businesses view the framework as a threat and
not as an opportunity to innovate, develop and grow in a sustainable
way.
Most SMEs sit outside the relevant regulatory
framework but have a large cumulative impact. eg their individual
tonnage waste output is under policy thresholds. Because of this
they require different drivers, such as government procurement,
and often these are not communicated or considered when developing
policy interventions.
How central is sustainable design to business
thinking? What initiatives are in place to encourage this and
are they meeting business needs?
While environmental performance is gaining more
of a focus sustainable design (or ecodesign) is still not central
to the vast majority of businesses.
EDC run an initiative to encourage ecodesign
which is beginning to gain an understanding of the real needs
of SMEs and other stakeholders (www.edcw.org).
Other UK organisations that have run initiatives
in the past seven years include Design Wales (Ecodesign Initiative
2005-06—EDC evolved from this), Centre for Sustainable Design
(Ecodesign Training for Manufacturing, Use and End-of-life for
SMEs), University of Sheffield—Environmental Business Network.
Organisations such as Design Wales and Envirowise also provide
support to business through specialist advisors.
What other measures can promote a focus on waste
reduction among businesses?
Incentives such as industry awards, certification,
accreditation, access to training and development tools, and targetted
forums, networks and information sharing platforms.
Peer-recognition and support, partnerships between
large companies and SMEs, coaching and mentoring and links to
higher education.
What lessons can business learn from international
experience?
Ecodesign or sustainable design = good design
= good business practice.
Ecodesign or sustainable design is not an isolated
or add-on activity. It's central to your business strategy.
Change takes time, needs leadership and requires
a joined up, multi-stakeholder approach.
GOVERNMENT POLICY
What is and should be the role of Government in
addressing the issue of waste reduction?
Government needs to take a lead role along with
working with key stakeholders to create platforms for moving forward.
One of the potential opportunities the Government
has to influence change is through its own procurement process.
There is emerging empirical evidence of the effectiveness of procurement
as a market transformation tool.[10]
Government needs to drive sustainability and
resource efficiency agenda across policy regimes such as regional
development and innovation.
Government needs to lead the way by driving
resource efficiency within the government estate.
Many of the products consumed in the UK are
imported and this places a different scope on the problem. The
Government needs to build on international co-operation to drive
resource efficiency through global supply chains. Aspects of this
issue in particular should be addressed through the Marrakech
Process.
How does Government policy link up with European
strategies and action plans?
Any link up with with strategy or action plans
needs to be matched with timely implementation of subsequent policy
mechanisms. Recent confusion and delays over specific legislation
sends out a confusing message to industry.
What lessons can be learnt from other countries—within
the EU and globally?
EDC undertook a comprehensive international
best practice study in 2005 (when some of the team ran an earlier
ecodesign initiative for Design Wales) on what Government could
do to stimulate ecodesign in Wales. Key lessons from this include:
— take a long-term multi-stakeholder
approach;
— need to embed ecodesign in education,
government strategies and the wider business and environment support
network;
— an initiative is a useful start
point. This initiative requires:
— a clear vision and timescale;
— strong engagement with industry and
design community; and
— post initiative support mechanisms.
— use appropriate tools and methodologies
for SMEs; and
— focus on supply as well as demand
side activities.
CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR
How can better product design be used to effect
a change in consumption patterns and behaviour?
Product design taking into account consumer
lifestyles can effect change.
Design has always been effecting change in consumer
behaviour. The intention needs to change.
There are some recent examples where product
design is being used to translate issues such as energy consumption
into simple feedback loops for users. This is helping to visualise
the invisible aspects of un-sustainable consumption.[11]
What role do marketing strategies play in influencing
more sustainable design?
Marketing is crucial because it can have a major
influence on product design and strategy by responding to, and
creating, market demands.
Marketing can also act as the communication
mechanism to inform and education consumers of environmental benefits.
This can be achieved through direct company communications and
also through campaigns and ecolabeling initiatives.
The Chartered Institute of Marketing are taking
up the sustainability issue and offering advice to its members.[12]
Are there any gaps in knowledge in this area?
There is very little knowledge on how to change
consumer behaviour
Environmental policy has been unsuccessful in
changing behaviour and bringing about transformations (social
or technical). The policy agenda needs to take into account market,
government and system failures.
There is a growing body of research on sustainable
consumption but it is still largely academic and complex. This
makes it difficult to transfer into policy or strategy. Examples
of research areas include Sustainable consumption, consumer values
and lifestyles.
There appears to be confusion over what sustainable
consumption is and conflicts on approaches—ie technology
oriented strategies can lead to the rebound effects (where efficiency
gains lead to over-consumption).
SKILLS
How is sustainable design integrated into the
design syllabus?
Currently this is quite ad-hoc. It is not currently
common practice to have sustainable design embedded in mainstream
design syllabus.
* EDC view the provision of ecodesign support
to the HE institutions as a key component of long-term capacity
building for ecodesign. An immediate priority for EDC is to put
the foundations in place for embedding of ecodesign and life-cycle
thinking in mainstream design degree courses across the four Welsh
universities offering design education. This is to ensure that
in the medium to long-term all design graduates in Wales are "literate"
in the issues of sustainability and ecodesign;
— the design curriculum is over-crowded
and HE institutions struggle to integrate sustainable design modules.
The key is to have teaching resources that complement and enhance
existing curricula;
— the message we are receiving
from HE is that "sustainability should simply be part of
how they teach design" and not as separate and de-contextualised
modules;
— often the delivery of sustainable
design modules is dependant on individual experts. There is a
need to build capacity across all levels of staff and allow for
ownership, knowledge management and skills retention;
— creating more fruitful linkages
with industry projects is required to help students (and lecturers)
see the theory in practice; and
— there is a need to build capacity
in training provision for design and technology teachers in the
post-16 environment.
To what extent are considerations of sustainable
waste reduction part of broader industrial training courses?
Most waste reduction industrial based training
is self taught in response to a direct business challenge.
More formal training for SMEs has been predominantly
delivered by business support organisations undertaking on-site
waste audits or encouraging employees to attend short courses/seminars.
Trade associations disseminate relevant information
via newsletters and seminars to all member organisations. This
enables industry champions to obtain timely, although tailored,
information.
Lecturers undertake self-directed learning or
attend forums and events targeting educators.
22 October 2007
7 Ecodesign is a key assistive measure in meeting the
statutory obligations in relation to Sustainable Development (SD)
through designing out waste and reducing our carbon footprint. Back
8
EDC staff are employees of University of Wales Institute, Cardiff
(UWIC) who manage and administer the funding. Back
9
see http://www.ecospecifier.org/ http://www.materialconnexion.com/pa1.asp Back
10
See http://www.iclei-europe.org/index.php?id=procurement Back
11
See http://www.diykyoto.com/ http://www.tii.se/groups/power Back
12
see http://www.cim.co.uk/cim/ser/html/knoTopic.cfm?objectID=F64FBC16-620E-4E20-9A8E37B
2 9C5E8A62 Back
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