Auf dem Weg zu einer ökologischen Stoffwirtschaft

Teil II: Die Rolle einer ganzheitlichen Produktpolitik

The realization of a sustainable economy requires a new industrial framework which consists of three elements:

(1) The introduction and utilization of environmental technologies;

(2) The closing of material cycles;

(3) A holistic product policy.

The first element has already been widely adopted in industry, while the second element is gradually being introduced. The third element is the final goal of a sustainable society and is currently the focus of much research.

Companies in the industrial nations will be increasingly forced to take on not only the hitherto external costs of production, but also the external costs of products after their useful life.

To this end, different strategies can be distinguished: Production of more durable goods; extension of the effective life or serviceable life of products and product components through reuse, repair, and re-manufacturing; production of multifunctional goods; source reduction of wastes and the recycling of materials. Other strategies include selling the use of the product instead of the product itself or product sharing.

These strategies can induce changes in economic structures such as the substitution of centralized manufacturing through decentralized maintenance services, product liability for the entire product life cycle as well as the trend towards a more service-oriented economy. The different strategies have to be valuated according to their environmental, economic, and legal consequences.

In this article, the possible environmental effects of these strategies during the different phases of the product life cycle are described and discussed in detail. A case study involving remanufacturing of automobiles illustrates the approach described.

Preliminary results indicate that combination of increased product durability, an intensified product use, and product modernization are most promising.