Analysis of eco-design roll-out and take-up

Summary

Among the challenges facing companies, adopting a model that has less impact on the environment is becoming crucial. Thanks to its preventive approach, eco-design is proving highly effective, particularly in an area that RECORD is following closely: product end-of-life management (design for recycling). However, few industrial groups have embarked on the massive integration of eco-design into their operations.

This study takes an in-depth look at the integration and deployment of eco-design, analysing feedback from the most advanced companies in this field in France and Europe. Recent cases of companies that have integrated eco-design into their strategy have been studied in order to consider possible courses of action for the widespread adoption of these approaches in French companies, in conjunction with the circular economy. Practical organisational, technical and economic conditions were examined. The study is based on a preliminary analysis of the methodological, regulatory and normative corpus of eco-design, to identify its fundamentals, followed by case studies. The link between eco-design and business development, or the company's technical and economic model, is studied in particular. 

A feedback workshop for RECORD members, attended by pioneering companies, provided an opportunity to capitalise on the results of the study, with a view to furthering the deployment of eco-design.