Environmental inmprovement through product development

Companies in Denmark and abroad are working increasingly to reduce human impacts on the environment and nature. At the same time there must still be a large focus on the creation of value for customers and consumers. This development gives rise to a huge potential for Danish companies, to create new business opportunities, where sustainable development and value creation are integrated early in the design of new products and services.

There is a great opportunity for businesses to create a new and positive agenda, where the focus is on all the good that companies can do for the environment, society and economic growth. Such an agenda must, of course, be based on a high involvement of the competencies of the companies’ own employees, as well as those of partners in the value chain.

The Danish Environmental Protection Agency and the Confederation of Danish Industry are cooperating on this project with DTU and IPU, to promote and aid the establishment of such a new agenda. Focus is placed on how products and services can be designed so not to harm humans, the environment and nature.

The project’s main result will be a Guide to environmental improvement through product development. The Guide will give inspiration and a stepwise approach to integrating positive environmental effects into companies’ design and product development processes. The Guide is intended primarily to aid product developers who have the task of building environmental thinking into the product development process. However environmental staff, industrial designers, manufacturing staff and others can also benefit from reading the Guide.

The project will start with a review of the environmentally-oriented methods used and product development activities carried out in Danish and international companies, as well as experience gained through a series of workshops with Danish companies.

This project is financed through the Danish Environmental Protection Agency’s company funding scheme.