Product oriented policy support

Product oriented policies seek to optimise the environmental performance of the total system of production, use and disposal processes needed to provide the products.

Product oriented environmental policies (in Europe known as Integrated Product Policy – IPP) is a supplement to the toolbox of environmental regulation, with a focus on the overall pressures related to material or non-material products. Every human activity – and consequently its environmental impacts – can be related to a certain need and the fulfilment of this need by material or non-material products. Therefore, products play a key role in a regulation aimed at reducing the total environmental impact.

Product oriented environmental policies combine many different regulatory measures, such as economic instruments, substance bans, voluntary agreements, environmental labelling and product design guidelines. Much of the initial focus of the IPP activities has therefore been on prioritising among the different policy measures and product areas.

Projects

• Total resource flows and environmental impacts
  An inventory including both a mass and energy flow analysis and a life cycle screening is performed for the region Northern Jutland. The inventory provides both a production perspective and a consumer perspective.
• GHG calculation tools for buildings
  This project for Nordic Ecolabelling entails a mapping and assessment of selected tools for calculation of the global warming impact of buildings. The primary objective is to assess the feasibility of adding additional ecolabel criteria for specific building materials or parts requiring calculations of the global warming impact for either a part or the entire life cycle of the buildings.
• LCA of 500 food items
  Consumers as well as professionals in the grocery and catering industry are increasingly demanding information about the climate footprint of the foods they buy or sell. This project will result in a public climate database of more than 500 foods.
• Total material and energy flows Marts 2019
  An inventory including both a mass and energy flow analysis and a life cycle screening is performed for Kolding Municipality. The inventory provides both a production perspective and a consumer perspective.
• Comparison of environmental claims for graphical products January 2019
  The project outlines how environmental claims can be verified by life cycle assessment, and which core aspects are required for such claims to be valid.    
• DESIRE January 2018
  Developing and applying an optimal set of indicators and models to analyse and monitor the European progress towards resource efficiency.
• E P&L for Arla Foods May 2016
  An Environmental Product & Loss account (E P&L) was conducted by Arla Foods, the third largest dairy cooperative in the world, with the aim of documenting the total environmental impact of Arla Foods.
• Potentials and barriers to the use of wood and sustainable wood in construction April 2016
  On the basis of an assignment from the Center for Construction this project aimed to uncover potentials and barriers in the use of wood in Danish construction.
• Life Cycle Evaluation of the Effect of Ecolabels March 2015
  This study estimated the effect of the Nordic ecolabels on apartment buildings, canteens and laundry detergents in a Danish context.
• E P&L on the Danish Apparel Consumption October 2014
  This project consisted of an industrial E P&L for the Danish apparel consumption conducted across three levels: industry, company/brand and product.  
• CREEA April 2014
  Data for the Global Resource Footprint of Nations. Carbon, water, land and materials embodied in trade and final consumption.
• Denmark’s Carbon Footprint March 2014
  A new estimate of a Danish Carbon Footprint and a review of previous studies.
• Environmental Profit and Loss Account (E P&L) for Novo Nordisk February 2014
  This project was a collaborative effort, looking into Novo Nordisk's value chain, leading to the first Novo Nordisk Environmental Profit and Loss Account (E P&L).
• The Socio-Economic Consequences of Environmental Advices December 2013
  The project looked at the socio‑economic consequences of 7 environmental advices given by the government. The purpose of the project was to investigate the value if such advices are followed by the general public and to visualize the benefits of a personal effort to the society.
• LCA screening of biofuels May 2013
  This project was initiated by the Danish green think tank Concito to assess the climate impacts of six different biofuels: wood pellets, wood chips, straw, biogas, ethanol and biodiesel.
• Ecodesign Requirements for Televisions January 2013
  The focus of this project was the implementation of the EU Directive 2005/32/EC on ecodesign requirements for energy using products (the EuP Directive) with special attention to the ecodesign requirements for televisions (TV).
• Carbon Footprint – Measurement and Use April 2012
  In this project the methods and standards for calculating and challenges in using Carbon Footprint are investigated.
• FORWAST November 2009
  The objective of the FORWAST project was to forecasts the material stocks, waste amounts and related environmental impacts in EU‑27 for the following 25 years under different scenarios of waste prevention, waste treatment and recycling.
• Environmental Improvement Potentials of Meat and Dairy Products November 2007
  This project applies several novel elements at the same time, such as hybrid LCA, consequential modelling, rebound effects, social impacts, life cycle costs, analysis of synergies and dysergies, impact assessment with full monetarisation, temporal discounting, and policy feasibility assessment.
• Holiwast June 2007 and closed 2017
  The Holiwast Decision Support Tool was a web‑based tool that allowed simultaneous comparisons of up to five stakeholder views or scenarios of municipal waste management policies.
• Life Cycle Based Cost-Benefit Assessment of Waste Management Options May 2006
  The study analysed municipal solid waste treatment scenarios and provided data, methodological improvements, results and strategy recommendations for the new EU member states. The recommendations were generally applicable to municipal solid waste treatment.
• Support for Environmental R&D Programme Cooperation April 2005
  The ERA‑NET Sustainable Enterprise (SUSPRISE) project aimed to expand cooperation and coordination among national sustainability research activities across Europe by promoting networking between government programmes in this sphere.
• Brief on Recent Developments in International Standardisation December 2004
  Proprietary project
• Prioritisation within the Integrated Product Policy December 2004
  The project “Prioritisation within the integrated product policy” established a detailed and well‑documented method for prioritising product areas and groups.
• Environmental Impact of the Use of Natural Resources (EIRES) November 2004
  The aim of the study “Environmental Impact of the use of natural Resources (EIRES)” performed for the EU commission DG‑JRC, IPTS was to support the development of the EU “Thematic Strategy for the Sustainable Use of Natural Resources”.
• Mapping business impacts on the UN SDGs
  This project places each of the 169 targets of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into a comprehensive, quantified and operational impact pathway framework.

Policy support in specific areas

More projects on policy support are listed on the pages for specific areas:

• Prioritising the future product-oriented policy for agricultural products.
• Improving environmental product declarations (EPDs).