Product Innovation And Eco-Efficiency

Prefaced by Björn Stigson, President of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, this book is one of the few that treats this topic by putting representatives of industry at centre stage. The book systematically addresses the drivers, the tools, and sector-specific elements that play a role in this process. The five chapters in Part I are devoted to a general introduction to eco-efficiency and the related challenges to industry in its implementation. Part II contains 23 case studies, almost all written by industrial experts who tell how they deal with the challenge: what the motivators are, what tools can be used and how they can be implemented, and what are the specific elements in sectors like building, electronics and packaging. These contributions come from multinationals like Unilever, Procter & Gamble, Akzo Nobel, Philips and Ciba-Geigy, as well as small and medium sized enterprises from such sectors as the building and furniture trades.

Booknews

Representatives from multinational corporations and some medium and small enterprises relate their efforts to improve the environmental performance of their products. The 28 papers were generated for an international conference planned for early 1996 by the Dutch organization TNO but cancelled. They address the issues of why a company should think about product innovation and eco-efficiency, what instruments are best suited to further the ends in various situations, and what departments or branches are best suited to pursue the effort. The specific topics include the reduction of waste in metal machining, novel protein foods, the disassembly analysis of consumer products, the environmental analysis of wooden furniture, applying secondary materials in the building and construction industry, using recycled PET for soft drink bottles, and paper packaging designed for recycling. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.