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To sustain the current model of production and consumption, the economy should grow by 3.4% annually. How do we make this happen on a planet that doesn’t grow, with finite resources? “The key is to preserve the value of resources for as long as possible and decouple progress from unlimited resource consumption; the answer thus lies in the circular economy.” This was the starting point of the talk that Elena Badia Elias<\/strong>, Ecodesign and Circular Business project manager at in\u00e8dit, gave on November 11th at the II Sustainability Forum of Castell\u00f3n in her presentation “Ecodesign and new business models,” a day for companies and initiatives committed to sustainability to meet and aimed to demonstrate that it is possible to generate economic benefits while minimizing social and environmental impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In her talk, Badia pointed out that some of our most urgent challenges are “extremely complex systemic challenges,” <\/strong>and to understand these complex challenges, “we must first understand the problem well through a systemic view,” that is, considering the impacts at each stage of the product life cycle, from the extraction of materials for production to its final management once it becomes waste.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Between 75% and 90% of the environmental impacts of a product occur in the phases of material extraction, production, and distribution to points of sale. <\/strong>How can we reduce and capture more value in products to minimize these impacts? A key strategy is a shift in the business model where companies stop providing products and start offering access to them. <\/strong>This is known as servitization<\/strong>, and there are three types:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFor this model shift to take place, the involvement of the entire company is necessary: from top management to design, operations, marketing, sales, and finance teams\u201d, according to Badia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n It is estimated that over 80% of environmental impacts related to products are determined in the design phase, so introducing ecodesign criteria in products is essential. These criteria can focus on the pre-use perspective, such as dematerialization, during use, such as facilitating the repair and updating of products, and after use, for example, ensuring material separability for proper end-of-life management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Sustainability metrics allow companies to identify critical improvement points based on specific data, serving as a starting point for implementing ecodesign strategies to reduce environmental impact. As inedit\u2019s project manager puts it: \u201cThese metrics also help align the goals of companies with those of customers and existing regulations while providing transparency in communication with the end consumer\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A change in the business model<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Reducing environmental impact though ecodesign<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Having environmental impact data<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n