Designing the sustainable product-service integration: a product-service blueprint approach

As a means for providing the sustainable production and consumption, the concept of product-service system (PSS) has received increasing attention. What is at the core in the PSS is the design, since it determines the distinctive characteristics and quality of PSS. Even though some tools have been suggested for PSS design, previous tools mainly focus on identifying the relationship between actors in a conceptual level. Despite the fact that it is significant and cannot be neglected, what is more important in a practical situation is to represent the detailed flow or relationship of PSS elements, with the consideration of products and services. In response, this paper proposes a ‘‘product-service blueprint’ which is a new and systematic way to elucidate the relationship between products and services, providing the implication of how PSS can provide the sustainable production and consumption. Employing the service blueprint as a starting point, new areas, lines, and symbols are introduced to represent the distinctive features of PSS. The proposed product-service blueprint represents the product use throughout the life cycle, service flow from the management to the customer, and the relationship between products and services. Taken together, the product-service blueprint will help both managers and researchers to promote the product-service integration under the concrete framework.     

A new business model for baby prams based on leasing and product remanufacturing

A shift in business thinking from selling products to providing service solutions to customer needs is becoming noticeable. It is driven by increasing competition and the need to identify new profit centres for producers of mature products. This paper identifies a new product group that could be interesting from the product-service system perspective – baby prams. The study presents a new business model based on selling the function that baby prams provide through leasing prams. It discusses potential barriers and necessary changes in product design and the supply chain to make it work. The product-service system in this case could include the organisation of a reverse logistics system with different levels of refurbishment and remanufacturing of prams, partially by retailers. The new model may provide customers with a high quality pram in a “like new” condition for the period they need it, and may help avoid transaction costs of having to sell the pram on the second-hand market. Economic estimations point to a significant potential for increased profits, while the environmental potential should be further investigated.     

Implementing service-based chemical procurement: lessons and results

Chemical use reduction is strongly desirable for environmental and public welfare reasons, and is a critical element of moving towards more sustainable consumption in the business-to-business economy. However, the fundamental economic relationship between chemical supplier and chemical customer creates supply side incentives for increased chemical use. Chemical management services (CMS) is a business model that aligns economic incentives in the chemical supplier–customer relationship towards reduced chemical use by making chemical services rather than chemical volume the basis of supplier compensation. CMS thus ‘servicizes’ the chemical supply chain and is a Product Service System with significant potential environmental benefits. CMS enjoys high penetration in the US auto and semiconductor sectors, and is emergent in other sectors. The paper synthesizes lessons learned from hands-on work with 15 chemical-using firms over 5 years in all aspects of CMS program implementation. Key points are that poor cost accounting and chemical information management form significant barriers to making, understanding and evaluating the CMS business case. The details of contractual compensation mechanisms are critical to achieving in practice the potential environmental benefits of the CMS model.     

Survey of willingness of residents to participate in electronic waste recycling in Nigeria – A case study of mobile phone recycling

Presently, large quantities of waste mobile phones are being generated in Nigeria with a significant proportion in storage. This paper investigated the behavior of consumers in Nigeria towards this waste stream and their willingness to participate in waste mobile phones recycling. This study also assessed the willingness of consumer's to pay for a more ‘environment friendlier’ phone – the so-called ‘green phone’. We performed a principal component analysis with varimax rotation in order to condense some of our questions into a smaller set of factors. We developed a model to estimate and explain the willingness to pay (WTP) a premium for ‘green’ cell phones. The model showed that the significant predictors of willingness to pay extra for green electronics include awareness and concern about the deteriorating environment, age, and the general attitude towards the environment. About 65% of the respondents are either ‘willing’ or ‘very willing’ to drop-off no-longer-in-use electronics at a nearby recycling facility. Majority of the respondents are also very willing to pay a premium for a green phone. Considering the increasing waste generation by this sector, it has become expedient that a recycling program be introduced for these potentially harmful waste materials.     

Estimation of probabilities and likely consequences of a chain of accidents (domino effect) in Manali Industrial Complex

Chains of accidents (the domino effect) have been occurring with ever increasing frequency in chemical process industries. This is reflected in several accidents ‘J Loss Prevent Process Ind 12 (1999a) 361’; the world's worst industrial accident of the 1990s — the Vishakhpatnam disaster — also involved the domino effect ‘J Loss Prevent Process Ind 12 (1999a) 361; and Process Safety Prog 18 (1999b) 135’. Such chains of accidents have a greater propensity to cause damage than stand-alone accidents ‘Process Safety Prog 17(2) (1998a) 107; and J Loss Prevent Process Ind 12 (1999a) 361’.In order to assess the likelihood of occurrence of the domino effect and its damage potential, use of deterministic models in conjunction with probabilistic analysis is required. Recently we have proposed a systematic methodology called ‘domino effect analysis’ (DEA). A computer-automated tool, DOMIFFECT, has also been developed by us based on DEA ‘Process Safety Prog 17(2) (1998a) 107; Environment Model Software 13 (1998b) 163; and Risk assessment in chemical process industries: advanced techniques. Discovery Publishing House (1998c)’.This paper illustrates the application of DEA and DOMIFFECT to an industrial complex comprising 16 different industries. Out of 12 credible accident scenarios envisaged in three different industries — namely Madras Refineries Limited (MRL), UB Petrochemicals (UBP) and Indian Organic Chemicals Limited (IOCL), eight scenarios are likely to cause the domino effect. A further detailed analysis reveals that accidents in the storage of liquified petroleum gas and propylene and in the reflux drum units of MRL may cause domino effects. Similarly, propylene storage of UBP and monoethylene glycol storage of IOCL are also likely to cause domino effects. The impact of various chains of accidents has been forecast which reveals that in several cases the accidents may be catastrophic, harming the entire industrial complex of 16 industries. The study leads to the identification of ‘hot spots’ — units that pose the greatest risk — in turn forewarning the industries concerned and enabling them to prioritize and augment accident-prevention steps.     

The influence of source and timing of nitrogen fertilizers on yield and nitrogen use efficiency of four sweet potato cultivars

Nitrogen (N) availability is a very important determinant of crop yield. It is also one of the most expensive inputs in crop production. Thus, the efficient management of N by farmers with limited resource is a very important part of successful soil and crop management system. A field study was conducted on a Norfolk sandy loam soil at the George Washington Carver Agricultural Experiment Station, Tuskegee, AL, to evaluate the influence of fertilizer source and timing on the yield of four sweet potato [Ipomoea batatas (L.)] cultivars. Two N sources (urea, CO(NH₂)₂ and ammonium nitrate, NH₄NO₃), four sweet potato cultivars (‘Georgia Jet’, GA-Jet; ‘TU-82-155’, TU-155; ‘TU-1892’; and ‘Rojo Blanco’, Rojo-Bl) and three times (zero, single, and split applications) were used in a factorial designed experiment. Plants were harvested after 80 and 120 days and total and marketable yields determined. Nitrogen recovery efficiency, yield efficiency and physiological efficiency were also determined. Total and marketable yields of early maturing cultivars were significantly higher than of late maturing cultivars (P<0.05). The single application of N resulted in significantly higher yield in storage roots than split application (P<0.05). Physiological efficiency values were highly correlated with total marketable yields. Recovery rates increased with time. Late maturing cultivars tended to have higher N recovery and physiological efficiency than early maturing cultivars. These results suggest that cultivar maturity group should play an important part in N fertilization recommendations for sweet potato.     

Consumer response to integrated pest management and certification

This study investigated consumer awareness of integrated pest management (IPM) and the effects of two marketing strategies. Specific objectives were to find whether eastern Massachusetts farmstand and farmers' market customers purchasing sweet corn care how their food is grown, whether they are aware of IPM, whether they would prefer to buy IPM-certified sweet corn and why, and whether the marketing methods presently available to IPM-certified growers can enhance awareness of IPM. In 1993, the Massachusetts Department of Food and Agriculture in collaboration with the IPM Program at the University of Massachusetts began a pilot IPM certification program for sweet corn and strawberries, designated ‘Partners with Nature’ (PWN). This study compared a ‘passive’ and ‘active’ PWN marketing strategy with a control that did not have any PWN publicity. The passive strategy was simply display of a PWN certificate and poster. The active strategy also included newspaper advertisements, clear labeling of corn as IPM-certified at the point of selection, a PWN sticker placed on bags of corn at payment, personally thanking customers for ‘buying our IPM-certified sweet corn’, and IPM brochures available to customers. Thirty purchasers of IPM-grown corn were interviewed at each of six farmstands and six farmers' markets.The dominant reason why customers patronize farmstands and farmers' markets was convenience. As found by other northeastern surveys, awareness of IPM was low: only 19% had heard of IPM before the survey, and only 38% of these could mention a specific method used in IPM. Although 45% of the respondents initially said that they did not care how their food is grown, 85% said that they would prefer to buy IPM-certified sweet corn after hearing a short definition. The definition gave only environmental benefits, but 74% of the customers preferring IPM-certified corn said they would buy it because it is safer or healthier. Most of the respondents claimed that they would be willing to pay 10% more for IPM-certified corn. Simply displaying an IPM poster had no significant results on consumer preference for IPM-grown produce, but active marketing significantly raised awareness of IPM and the PWN program.This study demonstrated the willingness of customers to support IPM because they believe it will have positive consequences for human health and environmental quality. It is concluded that sweet corn marketing based on IPM certification positively influenced consumer reactions to IPM; and a more extensive, diverse marketing strategy would enhance consumer awareness and support.     

Does the potential of the use of LCA match the design team needs?

Today, most people involved in the industrial engineering community (consultants, manufacturers, researchers and institutional actors) assert that Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is the most successful tool to assess environmental considerations in the product design process. This assertion is addressed in this article through a simultaneous check of the potential of this tool and the environmental needs of the design team. After a comparison of this potential to these needs, the following assertions may be made: (1) LCA is not an adequate tool for the designer, because its utility in the design process is limited to an analysis of existing products or well defined products at the final stages of the design process, and (2) LCA is not useful in creating a learning dynamic (awareness) within the company, because it does not improve the legitimacy or the credibility of environmental considerations. Moreover, it may generate confusion within the design team while restricting the capacity for innovation within the company. This paper concludes that, in the product design field, the LCA tool should be considered as a specialized tool handled by a specific player (the environmental actor) and should be dedicated to the strategic evaluation of new concepts.     

PRIMA: a Dutch initiative for environmental improvement of retail assortments

Cleaner production (CP) working methods should facilitate the search for feasible CP options and contribute to their on-going implementation in a company. Over the past decade, numerous working methods have been developed in order to cater for specific segments of industry. This paper describes, compares and analyses the core components of six Dutch working methods to develop a framework for CP methodologies, to draft guidelines for the selection of an appropriate working method for a certain industry, and to identify areas which require additional methodology development. A division is proposed between four types of CP working methods: indicators, scan, pre-assessment and assessment. Each of these has its strengths and weaknesses, which calls for a careful selection of the working method, which in turn could be based on size of the company, material- and energy-intensity of the production, and complexity of the production processes. This comparative evaluation further proves that the working methods are still weak in stimulating the corporate transition process from ‘end-ofpipe’ to CP thinking and acting. It is tentatively concluded that an ‘assessment’ is superior in identifying comparatively radical environmental improvements (‘innovations’) as well as in fostering the integration of CP into the daily operation and management of a company. The use of simplified working methods in selected industries, is, however, justified given their ability to contribute to the implementation of relatively obvious CP options.     

The Energy and Environmental Benefits of Superconducting Power Products

Superconductivity has the potential to bring a more fundamental change to electric power technologies than has occurred since electricity use became widespread nearly a century ago. The potential is for an energy revolution as profound as the impact fiber optics has had on communications. The fiber optic ‘information superhighway’ was constructed by replacing copper wires with a higher capacity alternative. Superconductivity provides an ‘energy superhighway’ that greatly improves efficiency and capacity. The economic and energy impacts of superconductors are predicted to be huge. Many challenges are being addressed in order for superconductivity to play this important role in the electric power system. The difficult challenge is underway in many countries to manufacture electrical wire from the ceramic high-temperature superconducting (HTS) materials, while in parallel, super-efficient power devices that use these wires are being designed and demonstrated in field trials. The benefits can be substantial: HTS wires that are a resistance-free alternative to conventional wires while carrying 100 times the amount of electricity; oil-free electrical equipment that is environmentally benign, with half the energy losses and half the size of conventional alternatives; and addressable markets estimated to exceed US$10 billion per annum within the next two decades. The savings due to increased efficiency of HTS electric power products may exceed 36 million metric tons of CO₂ in Japan, and much higher numbers in the U.S. and Europe, if generation continues to rely upon fossil fuels.     

Why bio-physical and social scientists can speak the same language when addressing Sustainable Development

Scientists assert that integrated research is a foundation of Sustainable Development. However, they often presume that differences between the bio-physical and social sciences are hurdles in the way of integration. We show that need not be the case. The problem lies in the way environmental research is organised. The essay goes on to discuss how the problem is being resolved, and the implications for ‘environmental science’.     

Product-service systems in the automotive industry: the case of micro-factory retailing

Solutions to the economic and environmental impacts of the automotive industry have largely focused on technological innovation at the level of products or processes. This paper argues that, in order to achieve sustainability, change processes must be undertaken at the functional and systemic level.The concept of product-service systems (PSS) represents a valuable opportunity to introduce such changes. PSS is predicated on new forms of product ownership, stewardship, design and producer–consumer interaction. The challenge now is to investigate ways in which the PSS concept might be introduced at the empirical level.The paper suggests that the adoption of micro-factory retailing (MFR) ideas offer a means of introducing such a system-level change in the automotive industry. MFR is based on novel approaches to vehicle design that facilitate the economic viability of small-scale localised manufacturing sites. It is argued that such an approach to vehicle production, allows the adoption of a full scale PSS at local levels. Furthermore, via aspects such as the unification of the commerce and manufacturing function, and the proximity of manufacturing and servicing sites to users, the MFR approach may also offer distinct advantages compared with prevailing visions of PSS.     

Eco-design implemented through a product-based environmental management system

Lucent Technologies (Lucent) has undergone considerable change in business strategy with the outsourcing of manufacturing activities. In order to control the significant environmental aspects of hardware products, Lucent's wireless business unit, Mobility Solutions, determined it would concentrate on the design of products: focusing on eco-design enables product sustainability to be improved, with each product generation providing a ‘start of pipe’ (front end) solution with attendant efficiencies.Mobility Solutions pioneered a product-based environmental management system (PBEMS) to formally address the impacts of wireless hardware products on the environment throughout the entire product lifecycle, regardless of where products are developed. This management system looks beyond the environmental impacts of manufacturing to include conceptual design, development, use by the customer, and final product disposal.The success of this approach can be attributed to the integration of eco-design with traditional hardware product realization processes. Through the PBEMS, business and environmental processes are simultaneously utilized to manage significant product aspects and to incorporate sustainability principles during product design. Many innovative eco-design tools are applied during the product realization process to identify areas for improvement of future products, and to verify that each generation of existing products is more sustainable than its predecessor. These eco-design tools include eco-roadmapping, design for environment guidelines and checklists, and lifecycle assessments.The Mobility Solutions PBEMS conforms to the requirements of the ISO 14001 international standard and has achieved third-party certification. By implementing environmentally responsible characteristics through eco-design programs, employees, customers, and the world community benefit from a consistent approach to the environmental management of wireless hardware products. Mobility Solutions continues to reap the value of sustainable product design that is both good for the environment and makes sound business sense.     

A proposed Multi Criteria Analysis decision support tool for international environmental policy issues: a pilot application to emissions control in the international aviation sector

Policy making at the level of international environmental problems appears to lack a transparent, multi criteria based, decision support ‘tool’. This is due mainly to the highly political, volatile, and contextual nature of issues at this level. The environmental problem of how to regulate emissions from international civil aviation due to their transboundary nature, and the participation of international and domestic players, makes it a ‘wicked’ international environmental problem where policy making has proved problematic. This problem has been used as the basis for developing and pilot testing a tool for contributing to international policymaking, the Multi Criteria Decision Support System (MCDSS). This tool is based on simplifying and integrating key components of Multi Criteria Analysis with a Decision Support System. A preliminary application of the tool explored three options for progressing the reduction of aviation emissions. Testing was based on the allocation of weights to environmental, social, economic and institutional categories, which were each then internally weighted to reflect key criteria in the policy process. Finally, likely performances of each option, against the criteria, were evaluated against Likert scale measures. The outputs from each of these steps were combined to generate a summed best policy option. Conclusions have been drawn and they indicate that the tool is potentially useful especially in the initial stages of policy development. The MCDSS is not an alternative to the international policy process, but rather complements, and makes explicit key tradeoffs in, that process.     

Eco-efficient producer services—what are they, how do they benefit customers and the environment and how likely are they to develop and be extensively utilised?

The potential environmental benefits of moving from a product-based economy to a functional economy involving greater use of services is a subject of increasing interest and debate in the field of eco-efficiency. This paper provides a typology and fuller analysis of eco-efficient producer services than hitherto reported. Three broad classes of service are described and assessed: product based including product results, product utility and product extension; electronic substitution and information based. Examples of each are drawn from a major study on the successes and barriers of eco-services in Europe. The paper concludes that while there are a number of areas of success, there are considerable barriers to wider development and uptake of such services, and that many of the more successful service applications are not necessarily driven by environmental considerations. The paper warns that the shift from products to services cannot be assumed to be eco-efficient and there are a number of rebound effects which need to be carefully analysed.     

Developing sustainable products and services

In light of increasing pressures to adopt a more sustainable approach to product design and manufacture, the requirement to develop sustainable products is one of the key challenges facing industry in the 21st century. Hence, the concept of developing sustainable products as well as services is evolving as a key element of Cleaner Production. Sustainable product development initiatives (mainly through eco-design) have been evolving for some time to support companies develop more sustainable products. Ireland has been running the highly successful Environmentally Superior Products (ESP) initiative that supports industrial companies to incorporate a more sustainable approach to the development of products and/or services. The lessons learned from the ESP and other global Sustainable Product and Service Developments in industry and research, are being used to develop a method for effective sustainable product and/or service development (SPSD) in industry. The method is designed to provide pragmatic guidance to business and industry for developing sustainable products and services as well as incorporating this approach within existing corporate strategy, cleaner production and product development systems. This method is being developed by the authors at the Environmental Policy and Management Group (EPMG), Department of Environmental Science and Technology, Imperial College London, UK in conjunction with industry and practitioners. The method provides a framework for implementing SPSD throughout the entire lifecycle of a product and/or service. It can be used to identify, assess and implement the options for optimum sustainability in the design and development of a product and/or service. This paper describes the key features of this method.     

Life cycle oriented design of technical Product-Service Systems

Technical services such as maintenance, retrofitting, refurbishing or user training can significantly influence the economic and ecologic performance of high quality investment goods, thus providing new and advanced user benefits. In order to systematically exploit these potentials the interrelations between physical products and non-physical services need to be considered proactively, resulting in the necessity for integrating corresponding product and service design processes. For this reason, a process for the systematic design of product related technical services is introduced that upon its modularization represents a promising starting point for linkage with corresponding product design processes. Life cycle oriented design of technical Product-Service Systems is thus supported. The presented concept is finally illustrated by means of an example from the investment goods industry.     

Emergy as a tool for Ecodesign: evaluating materials selection for beverage packages in Brazil

The life of a product begins with the initial product design concepts; the costs and potential impacts of a product are heavily influenced by the final design, the production processes, the economic and environmental costs of all raw materials. Additionally, both of these factors are very much affected by how the products are managed during and after consumer usage. Thus, there is an urgent need for a tool to facilitate the integration and assessment of environmental and economic demands into the product planning and development processes. The introduction of environmental accounting based on emergy as a tool to assist in product design is proposed. This complementary tool may be inserted into the conventional design methodology to facilitate in the selection of materials and processes as well as in the actual design of the products. To illustrate the application of the proposed method for material selection, PET (polyethylene terephthalate) bottles and aluminum cans for beverage packaging are compared. Despite the exceptional condition of aluminum recycling in Brazil, results show that the best option for beverage packages is the PET bottles.     

New concepts in product use for sustainable consumption

The paper presents the main results of a recent study on sustainable use of products. It reveals that strategies of use intensification and useful life extension are environmentally beneficial. Moreover, analysis of household washing and winter sports illustrated that successful implementation of sustainable use patterns occurs as a shift of use regimes. Such regimes are the result of a complex interplay of supply and demand side factors, relationship among actors, technical trajectories, organisational structures etc. One decisive factor is the presence of strategic players, so called “change agents”. In addition, four user types have been identified in a representative survey (“ownership-oriented”, “open-minded”, “consumption-oriented”, “low interest”) to which use intensification and useful life extension can be targeted.     

A targeting approach for ecosystem protection

The Critical Ecosystems Team of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Region 5, has developed an approach to prioritize and target ecologically high-quality areas for enhanced environmental protection in the Midwestern states of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Using this approach, we intend to employ a pro-active strategy to protect the environment by protecting and restoring natural ecosystems rather than the traditional EPA approach of remediating and attempting to restore already degraded habitats. The approach consists of two components: (1) partnership and (2) criteria. For the partnership component, we collected, mapped, and summarized information on ecosystems considered critical to federal and state agencies, tribes and non-profit organizations. Multi-county areas with high numbers of ecosystems identified by a variety of partners were designated as ‘Ecologically Rich Regions’. These Ecologically Rich Regions highlight broad geographic areas where there are high levels of partner interest and, correspondingly, areas with high potential for forming collaborative partnerships for enhanced environmental protection. The second component, which relies on criteria, is still under development and defines critical ecosystems as having three important properties: (1) high ecological diversity, (2) potential for long-term sustainability and (3) presence of relict native ecosystems or communities. The information compiled under both components of this ecosystem targeting approach will inform ecological risk managers and assessors about important ecosystems that should be considered in risk management and assessment processes.