Green Products Definitii

From green product denitions and classications to the Green Option Matrix
Rosa Maria Dangelico

a,
*
, Pierpaolo Pontrandolfo
b
a
Department of Mechanical and Management Engineering, Politecnico di Bari, Viale Japigia, 182-70126 Bari, Italy
b
Department of Environmental Engineering and Sustainable Development, Politecnico di Bari, Via Alcide De Gasperi, 74100 Taranto, Italy
a r t i c l e i n f o
Article history:
Received 20 November 2009
Received in revised form
28 May 2010
Accepted 8 July 2010
Available online 16 July 2010
Keywords:
Green products
Green practices
Green Option Matrix
Dow Jones Sustainability World Index
a b s t r a c t
Hybrid cars, recycled products, photovoltaic cells, bioplastics: why so different products can be called
green? Which practices companies willing to develop green products should implement? How
companies can easily and effectively communicate to stakeholders the environmental features of their
green products? This paper tries to answer these questions, by developing a Green Option Matrix (GOM),
which characterizes green products and practices along different dimensions. This matrix is then used to
analyze the different features of green products as well as related green practices developed by a sample
of companies belonging to the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index (DJSWI). Relevant data are collected
by means of content analysis of companies websites and sustainability reports. Green products and
practices developed by each company in the sample are positioned in the matrix and results are pre-
sented and discussed for each industrial sector. Then, different sectors behaviors are compared. The
proposed matrix can be used by companies as a market tool to analyze competitors green products and
practices and as a communication tool to effectively communicate to stakeholders the specic green
features of their products and practices.
2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
Nowadays, to become green is botha needandanopportunity for
companies. The reasons that push rms to go green can be very
different, such as legitimacy, competitiveness, and ecological
responsibility (e.g. Shrivastava and Hart, 1995; Bansal and Roth, 2000;
Gonzlez-Benito and Gonzlez-Benito, 2006; Murillo-Luna et al.,
2008). As a result, a growing number of companies are embracing
environmental sustainability into their strategies (Unruh and
Ettenson, 2010). In this context, the development of green products
is becoming more and more relevant. In fact, the Green Paper on
IntegratedProduct Policy(Commissionof the EuropeanCommunities,
2001) states that one way to achieve the target of sustainable devel-
opment is a newgrowthparadigmanda higher qualityof lifethrough
wealth creation and competitiveness on the basis of greener prod-
ucts. The development of green products can also be a means for
companies to achieve competitive advantage. For example, Porter and
Reinhardt (2007) highlight the needfor companies toadopt a strategic
approach to climate and to take action now, underlining the oppor-
tunity to gain competitive advantage by creating green products, able
to exploit climate-induced demand (such as hybrid cars). Therefore,
the number of companies facing the green product challenge is
supposed to rapidly grow in the next years. This is coherent with the
growing trendof companies that obtainyearly the EuropeanEco-label
for their products. Infact, whileat theendof 2000about 50companies
obtained European Eco-label for their products, at the beginning of
2010, this number has grown to more than1000.
In the literature, research on green product innovation is
growing in interest (e.g. Baumann et al., 2002; Pujari et al., 2003;
Rehfeld et al., 2007; Albino et al., 2009; Dangelico and Pujari,
forthcoming). In particular, green products are receiving
increasing attention as means to improve companies performance
(Pujari, 2006; Chen et al., 2006; Chung and Tsai, 2007). However,
the debate regarding what constitutes a green product (e.g. Chen,
2001; Baumann et al., 2002; Berchicci and Bodewes, 2005) is still
ongoing. Similarly, there is much uncertainty among rms on the
product dimensions to be considered to develop green products.
This paper aims at providing a description and a characteriza-
tion scheme of the main different options to develop green prod-
ucts. The goal is then providing a matrix useful for companies to
compare industrial sectors green products and practices and to
communicate to stakeholders the environmental features of their
green products and practices.
The paper is structured as follows: Section 2 reports a literature
reviewof the main denitions and classications of green products,
* Corresponding author. Tel.: 39 080 5962725; fax: 39 080 5962788.
E-mail addresses: r.dangelico@poliba.it (R.M. Dangelico), pontrandolfo@poliba.it
(P. Pontrandolfo).
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Journal of Cleaner Production
j ournal homepage: www. el sevi er. com/ l ocat e/ j cl epro
0959-6526/$ e see front matter 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2010.07.007
Journal of Cleaner Production 18 (2010) 1608e1628
whereas Section 3 proposes a new dimension of characterization
and the Green Option Matrix (GOM), which represents a guide for
companies to position their own green products and communicate
them to stakeholders and to analyze competitors green products,
so highlighting newspaces to be explored for green product design.
In Section 4, the proposed matrix is used to analyze green products
and practices developed by a sample of companies considered best
performers in sustainability, while in Section 5 directions for
companies on how to use the GOM are provided. Finally, in Section
6 discussion and conclusion are reported.
2. Denitions and classications of green products
The many meanings of the word green have been discussed in
the literature (e.g. Kleiner, 1991; McDonagh and Prothero, 1996;
Miller and Szekely, 1995; Silverstein, 1993). In particular, McDo-
nagh and Prothero identify several dimensions of green, such as
ecological, political, corporate social responsiveness, fair trade,
conservation, non-prot, new-consumerism, sustainability, and
equality. These concepts are very broad and embrace very different
aspects, so generating confusion on the meaning of green and not
giving clear directions to companies willing to become green.
Similarly, at the product level, several attempts have been made to
dene what a green product is (e.g. Peattie, 1995; Roy et al., 1996;
Ottman, 1997). Nevertheless, there is still confusion on what
constitutes an environmentally friendly product (Baumann et al.,
2002; Berchicci and Bodewes, 2005).
Some authors have tried to dene green products. Peattie
(1995, p. 181), denes a product as green when its environ-
mental and societal performance, in production, use and disposal, is
signicantly improved and improving in comparison to conventional
or competitive products offerings. This denition highlights the
different life cycle phases during which a product can show its
environmentally friendly features.
Reinhardt (1998, p. 46) states that environmental product
differentiation takes place when: a business creates products that
provide greater environmental benets, or that impose smaller envi-
ronmental costs, than similar products. This denition points out
that green products are not only those products with a lower
environmental impact, but also those providing higher environ-
mental benets compared to conventional products.
Ottman et al. (2006, p. 24) state that although no consumer
product has a zero impact on the environment, in business, the terms
green products or environmental product are used commonly to
describe those that strive to protect or enhance the natural environ-
ment by conserving energy and/or resources and reducing or elimi-
nating use of toxic agents, pollution, and waste. This denition
stresses the main types of environmental focus of green product
development, namely energy, resources, pollution and waste.
The Commission of the European Communities (2001) denes
greenproducts as products that use less resources, have lower impacts
andrisks tothe environment andprevent wastegenerationalreadyat the
conception stage. This denition emphasizes the importance of
designing products as green since the conceptualization phase.
Several other authors have highlighted the distinctive features
of green products (Table 1).
The many denitions and characteristics of green products
prompt the need to develop a coherent framework in which inte-
grating them. Although in some denitions and characteristics of
green products the social performance is mentioned, in this paper,
we chose to refer to a product as green only on the basis of its
environmental performance.
In the literature, different perspectives to classify products have
been identied, namely marketing, organization, engineering design,
and operations management (Krishnan and Ulrich, 2001). Green
product design can be thought of as a fth perspective (Sousa and
Wallace, 2006). In fact, the natural environment represents a driver
to redesign existing products or to create new ones, making them
more energy efcient or less material intensive (Shrivastava, 1995).
Several greenproduct classications havebeendevelopeddriven
by distinct classication purposes. Taxonomy dimensions can be
product characteristics (e.g. Rombouts, 1998), level of environ-
mental impacts (e.g. Hanssen, 1999), or types of environmental
improvement strategies (e.g. Park et al., 1999; Rose et al., 1999).
Kaebernick and Soriano (2000) use a simplied approach to assess
the conceptual design phase, by classifying products into groups
according to their environmental features. They consider four
product life cycle phases (materials, process, usage, and disposal)
and divide products into two groups, distinguishing two kinds of
impact drivers, namely energy based and material based. Sousa and
Wallace (2006) develop an automated classication systemguiding
the identication of product groups based upon environmental
categories. Dewberry and Goggin (1996) develop an Ecodesign
Matrix, subsequently used by Roy et al. (1996), to classify the envi-
ronmental impact of products on the basis of two dimensions: main
life cycle stage (production, use, and disposal) and environmental
focus (energy, materials/resources, pollution/toxic waste). Peattie
(1995) classies products on the basis of their eco-performance,
distinguishing different shades of green (fromdeep green to black)
and types of products (absolute green or relative green). In partic-
ular, absolute green products contribute to the improvement of
society or the environment, whereas relative green products reduce
the harm they cause to society or environment. This distinction
recalls the one made in Reinhardts (1998) denition. The concept of
absolute green product is quite close to those of ameliorative
product, dened as a product necessary to survive environmental
deterioration (Ryan et al., 1992, p. 13), and of sustainable-function
product, dened as a product (or service) that reduces a negative
impact in its surroundings to such an extent that the reduction
exceeds the impact caused by the products lifecycle itself (Wever
and Boks, 2007, p. 201). As highlighted by Wever and Boks (2007)
and Wever et al. (2008), despite its high potential, this type of
innovation lacks of academic attention.
Based on these considerations, this paper expands the Ecodesign
Matrix proposed by Dewberry and Goggin (1996), adding a third
dimension for green products characterization, i.e. the type of
environmental impact. In the next Section, the three dimensions
will be explained and integrated in a tridimensional matrix.
3. The Green Option Matrix (GOM)
In order to synthesize and integrate in a coherent framework
the different dimensions of green products and to give relevance to
the different types of contributions of green products towards the
environment, a tridimensional matrix is developed.
Starting from the consideration that every product (even green
ones) impacts on the environment (Peattie, 1995), it is important to
clarify when, why, and how much a product is green. It is then
necessary to point out:
1. When, i.e. the phase of the product life cycle during which the
green features are expressed;
2. Why, namely the reason why the product can be considered
green, which involves recognizing the main environmental
focus of the product;
3. How much, that is the type of impact on the natural
environment.
With regard to the phase of the product life cycle, we will
consider three main phases: (i) before usage (including materials
R.M. Dangelico, P. Pontrandolfo / Journal of Cleaner Production 18 (2010) 1608e1628 1609
Table 1
Review of the characteristics of green products.
.Authors Characteristics associated with the green nature of a product
Elkington and Hailes (1988) Not endangering the health of the consumer or of others
Causing no signicant damage to the environment during
manufacture use or disposal
Not consuming a disproportionate amount of energy during manufacture, use and disposal
Not causing unnecessary waste, either because of overpackaging or because of an unduly short useful life
No use of materials derived from threatened species or from threatened environments
Not involving unnecessary use or cruelty to animals
Not adversely affecting other countries, particularly the third world
Simon (1992) Reduced raw material, high recycled content
Non-polluting manufacture/non-toxic materials
No unnecessary animal testing
No impact on protected species
Low energy consumption during production/use/disposal
Minimal or no packaging
Reuse/rellability where possible
Long useful life, updating capacity
Post-consumer collection/disassembly system
Remanufacturing capability
Schmidheiny (1992) Eliminate or replace product
Eliminate or reduce harmful ingredients
Substitute environmentally preferred materials or processes
Decrease weight or reduce volume
Produce concentrated product
Produce in bulk
Combine the functions of more than one product
Produce fewer models or styles
Redesign for more efcient use
Increase product life span
Reduce wasteful packaging
Improve reparability
Redesign for consumer reuse
Remanufacture the product
Peattie (1995) Recyclability
Resource efciency
Emissions
Impact on ecosystems
Social impact
Sustainability of resource use
Waste and disposal
Eco-efciency of production and organization
Robert (1995) Minimize the use of nonrenewable materials
Avoid the use of toxic materials
Use renewable resources in accordance with their rate of replenishment
Shrivastava and Hart (1995) Low environmental impact during usage
Easily composted, reused, or recycled at the end of their useful life
Roy et al. (1996) Capable of lessening global environmental problems
Energy efcient
Easily repairable
Designed to last, or to be reused, reconditioned or recycled
Generates minimum pollution and waste
Can be disposed of safely
Minimal use of materials, including packaging
Manufactured from renewable or abundant resources, or recycled materials
Manufactured, if possible, locally and from locally obtainable materials to reduce transport
requirements
Environmental information on product available to purchaser
Not harmful to human health
Satises a genuine human need
Luttropp and Lagerstedt (2006) Do not use toxic substances and utilize closed loops for necessary but toxic ones
Minimize energy and resource consumption in the production
phase and transport
Use structural features and high-quality materials to minimize weight
Minimize energy and resource consumption in the usage phase
Promote repair and upgrading
Promote long life
Invest in better materials, surface treatments or structural arrangements
Prearrange upgrading, repair and recycling
Promote upgrading, repair and recycling
Use as few joining elements as possible
extraction, production processes, transportation processes), (ii)
usage, and (iii) after usage (end-of-life).
By environmental focus we refer to the main category of envi-
ronmental impact of a green product, as the latter can improve its
impact on the environment with emphasis on materials (including
water), energy, or pollution (emissions and toxic waste). We can
then distinguish green products, on the basis of their main envi-
ronmental focus, respectively as green products focused on mate-
rials, energy, and pollution.
Once recognized the three main types of environmental focus of
greenproducts, it is possible to specify the type of impact, which we
name as less negative, null, or positive. A product can be considered
green, in terms of one of the three types of environmental focus, if it
has anenvironmental impact lower thanconventional products, or if
it has a null impact, or if it positively contributes to environment,
reducing environmental impact of other products. Below we detail
the denition with respect to each environmental focus.
A green product with a focus on materials is, for example,
a product that:
is produced using less amount of materials than conventional
products (less negative environmental impact);
uses only recycled materials or natural/biodegradable mate-
rials at a sustainable rate (null environmental impact);
is designed to be reused, disassembled and remanufactured, or
it is made of materials that can be recycled, reducing then the
environmental impact of other products that will not require
the consumption of virgin materials (positive environmental
impact).
1
In Fig. 1 some examples of green products with a focus on
materials and the respective levels of environmental impact during
a specic phase are shown.
Similarly, a greenproduct with a focus on energy is, for example,
a product that:
is more energy efcient than conventional products, or if part
of the energy used comes from renewable energy sources (less
negative environmental impact);
uses only energy from renewable sources (null environmental
impact);
produces energy from renewable sources, and in so doing
reduces the environmental impact that will be caused by other
products (positive environmental impact).
In Fig. 2 some examples of green products focused on energy
and the respective levels of environmental impact during a specic
phase are shown.
A green product with a focus on pollution is, for example,
a product that:
is less pollutant than conventional products (less negative
environmental impact);
does not pollute (null environmental impact);
reduces pollution caused by other products (positive environ-
mental impact).
In Fig. 3 some examples of green products with a focus on
pollution and the respective levels of environmental impact during
a specic phase are shown.
In particular, a greater attention should be addressed to the
third point of each kind of products, i.e. products with positive
environmental impact. In fact, while other products can be
considered green as they create less environmental problems
than conventional products, these products contribute to solve
environmental problems, which in turn implies a negative envi-
ronmental footprint and then a reduction on the environmental
footprint due to other products. In this sense, a green product with
positive impact can be considered as an environmental helper.
Note that, as the evaluation of the product impact is done with
specic regard to a given focus and phase rather than over the
whole life cycle, a product with a positive impact might not be
such over the entire life cycle.
Based on the above we propose the Green Option Matrix (GOM)
(Table 2) that allows green products to be characterized according
to the discussed dimensions.
4. The GOM applied to different sectors
The developed matrix is then used to analyze the different
features of green products developed by a sample of 142 compa-
nies belonging to the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index
(DJSWI) and operating in different sectors, in particular Tech-
nology, Consumer Goods, Industrial, and Basic Materials.
2
We
choose these companies since the Dow Jones Sustainability
Indexes track the nancial performance of the leading sustain-
ability-driven companies worldwide.
3
Being environmental
sustainability a key dimension of sustainability, these companies
are assumed to be leaders in environmental sustainability, and
their behavior can be considered as a benchmark. Table 3 reports
the sample composition.
The signicant information for this research has been taken from
companies public websites, and, when on line available, from their
Table 1 (continued).
Authors Characteristics associated with the green nature of a product
Ljungberg (2007) Reduce the materials and the use of energy for a product
Reduce emissions, dispersion and creation of toxics
Increase the amount of recyclable materials
Maximize the sustainable use of renewable resources
Minimize the service intensity for products and services
Extend the useful life for a product
Assess and minimize the environmental impact
Having a functional economy
Use reverse logistics
Increase the efciency in the usage phase
1
Products with a positive impact with regard to the focus materials recall the
concept of cradle to cradle, since they allow a new life for materials.
2
The classication of sectors is the one used in the DJSWI and the sample is
represented by companies listed in the DJSWI referred to September 2008.
3
The identication of sustainability leaders for the Dow Jones Sustainability
Indexes is based on the Corporate Sustainability Assessment of SAM Research,
encompassing three dimensions: economic, environment, and social.
environmental/sustainability reports
4
(data collection has been
carried out between October 2008 and December 2008; reports on
line available during this time period were referred to 2007).
Relevant data have been collected by means of content analysis
of companies websites and sustainability reports (e.g. Wolfe,
1991; Krippendorf, 2004). In particular, sections containing the
following keywords have been content analyzed: green products,
eco products, environmental products, eco-friendly products,
environment-conscious products, sustainable products, environ-
mental technologies, green technologies, green processes.
In this way, green products and related practices developed by
each company in the sample have been identied and positioned in
the GOM. In particular, to this purpose we developed and used
a structured procedure involving three main steps: step 1, identi-
fying the focus area(s) to which the improved environmental
performance of the product/practice or the environmental benets
determined by the product/practice refer; step 2, identifying to
which phase(s) of the product life cycle the improved environ-
mental performance of the product/practice or the environmental
benets determined by the product/practice refer; step 3, identi-
fying the type of environmental impact of the considered product/
practice. These steps are depicted in Appendix A.
Results are then aggregated by industrial sector, so as to develop
a matrix for each sector, which represents the different undertaken
actions.
5
Comparing the matrices of the different sectors, industry
specic behaviors are highlighted.
For the sake of clarity, the tridimensional matrix is presented by
means of three separate matrices, each of which referred to
a specic environmental focus.
4.1. Technology sector
The technology sector includes companies producing techno-
logically based goods, i.e. electronics, software, computers, other
products related to information technology.
4.1.1. Environmental focus materials
InTable 4 in Appendix B the GOMlled with green products and
practices developed in the technology sector is shown, with a focus
on materials.
In the before usage phase, companies have reduced their
products environmental impact (less negative), through efcient
production processes, in terms of reduction of water and raw
materials use, and waste production. Important efforts have also
been made to reduce size and weight of products, components and
packaging, therefore at the same time both saving materials and
reducing energy consumption and pollution due to transportation.
To have a null impact some companies have used recycled mate-
rials, bers or paper coming from certied sustainably managed
forests, and bio-based plastics. Practices adopted by companies that
can be conceived as having a positive impact are the reuse or
recycle of production wastes or by-products that can then be used
to manufacture new products.
In the usage phase, rms have tried to reduce the environ-
mental impact of products by extending their lifecycle or making
products more efcient, in terms of resource consumption.
Referring to the after usage phase, in order to have a null
impact, actions have been devoted to use biodegradable materials.
In order to have a positive impact, many rms have designed
products, components, and packaging to be easily disassembled
(avoiding glues, adhesives and welds), reused and recycled.
The usage phase is the one in which fewer actions are
identied, especially with regard to null and positive impacts,
leaving then opened for rms opportunities to explore innova-
tive options.
4.1.2. Environmental focus energy
Table 5 in Appendix B shows the GOMlled with greenproducts
and practices developed in the technology sector, with a focus on
energy.
With regard to the before usage phase, several green practices
have been adopted to make production processes more energy
efcient (less negative impact), use renewable energy sources
(null impact) and cogenerate energy or reuse waste energy
(positive impact).
The usage phase is the one wherein the greatest variety of
products and practices has been proposed in this sector. In
particular, a number of high-energy efcient products and
components have been developed (less negative impact). In
some of these cases, intelligent devices have been embedded into
products to make them more efcient, such as devices signaling to
unplug cell phone charger when the battery is full or automatic
luminance control function for LCDs. At a higher level of envi-
ronmental impact, there are much fewer products such as eco-
mechanisms for watches (null impact), and photovoltaic cells
(positive impact).
With regard to the after usage phase, no products and
practices have been identied, leaving then opened innovation
spaces for companies.
Wooden pallets designed to
be disassembled and
remanufactured
Material Consumption Material Supply
Conventional
wooden pallets
Wooden pallets
designed to have the
minimum weight
and volume
Wooden pallets made
of certified wood
coming from
sustainably managed
forests
FOCUS: MATERIALS
Less negative Null Positive
Fig. 1. Green products with a focus on materials and levels of environmental impact (evaluation referred to a specic focus and life cycle phase).
4
Being environmental reporting one of the corporate sustainability assessment
criteria through which companies are selected to belong to the DJSWI, environ-
mental information related to products and processes was always present in the
sample companies websites or reports.
5
Note that if a company inDJSWI covers more thanone sector, it is classiedintoone
of them, according to a best in class approach. As a result products and practices
analyzedfor acertaincompanyunder therelatedsector might belongtoother sectors as
well.
4.1.3. Environmental focus pollution
Table 6 in Appendix B shows the GOM lled with for green
products and practices developed in the Technology sector, with
a focus on pollution.
In the before usage phase, most practices are developed to
reduce emissions due to production and transportation (less
negative impact), with attention to avoid the use of toxic
substances and to use renewable energy sources (null impact).
In the usage phase, all actions undertaken to make products,
components, and attachments energy efcient can be considered as
they have also an indirect inuence on the reduction of emissions
(less negative impact).
With regard to the after usage phase, rms give emphasis to
the elimination of harmful substances, the safe disposal of prod-
ucts, and the recyclability of products and components which
prevent electronic wastes from going to landll (null impact).
4.2. Consumer goods
The consumer goods sector includes companies selling their
products to the nal customer, so spanning a wide range of prod-
ucts (clothing, footwear, household, personal products, etc.).
and practices developed in the Consumer Goods sector, with a focus
on materials.
With regard to the before usage phase, in order to reduce their
products environmental impact (less negative) companies give
emphasis to efcient production processes (in terms of reduction of
water and raw materials use, and waste production). Important
efforts are also made to reduce size and weight of products,
components and packaging, therefore at the same time both saving
materials and reducing energy consumption and then pollution
production due to transportation processes. Furthermore, several
products are developed using a certain amount of recycled mate-
rial. In order to have a null impact some companies develop
several products (such as clothes, footwear, building materials)
using only recycled or natural (such as bioplastics or organic cotton)
materials. Practices that can be conceived as having a positive
impact are the reuse or recycle of production processes wastes or
by-products, which can then be reused as inputs for production or
maintenance processes. Moreover, there are some technologies
able to treat resources and make them again available for other
production processes (e.g. systems treating process water). Finally,
the promotion of reforestation, by rms dealing with forestry, can
be mentioned as having a positive impact on the environment.
In the usage phase, several environmentally friendly deter-
gents for personal care and for household are developed that save
water (less negative impact) or that are made by natural/organic
ingredients, which are harmless for peoples skin and then have
a null impact. In terms of positive impact, we could mention glues
allowing for fast and reliable repair of durable goods, then
extending their life and preserving resources.
Referring to the after usage phase, products and packaging
partially (less negative impact) or completely (null impact) biode-
gradable/compostable are developed. Other practices that can be
positioned in the positive impact cell are the development of recy-
clable, reusable, repairable, easilydisassemblyproducts, components,
or packaging. Furthermore, management systems to collect, recover
Conventional
lightings
Energy
efficient
lightings
Photovoltaic
panels/Wind
turbines
Energy Consumption Energy Production
Lightings with integrated
photovoltaic cells
FOCUS: ENERGY
Fig. 2. Green products with a focus on energy and levels of environmental impact (evaluation referred to a specic focus and life cycle phase).
Photocatalytic
cements
Pollution Production Pollution Reduction
Conventional
vehicles
Hybrid
vehicles
Electric vehicles/
Hydrogen vehicles
FOCUS: POLLUTION
Fig. 3. Green products with a focus on pollution and levels of environmental impact (evaluation referred to a specic focus and life cycle phase).
and recycle products, components, or packaging (such as toner
cartridge, batteries, and consumer electronics) are also developed.
Table 8 in Appendix B reports the GOM referred to green
products and practices developed in the Consumer Goods sector,
with a focus on energy.
In the before usage phase, companies have developed several
practices to make production processes more energy efcient (less
negative impact), use renewable energy sources (null impact) and
reuse waste energy in terms of heat or gas (positive impact).
The greatest variety of green products and practices of this
sector is proposed in the usage phase. In particular, a number of
high-energy efcient products and components are developed
(less negative impact). In some of these cases, intelligent devices
are embedded into products to make them more efcient, such as
intelligent systems with sensor for energy efciency. Several
actions are implemented for vehicles, from efcient tires with low
rolling resistance, to alternative feeding systems and engines (such
as common rail, hybrid engine, biodiesel compatible systems), to
car solar roofs. Several insulating products are developed for
buildings, such as interlayer lm for laminated glass and adhesives
tile for houses. At a higher level of environmental impact, we can
mention biofuels and several solutions for buildings, such as
natural ventilation, solar thermal panels for hot water heating,
wind turbines to generate electricity for use in lighting (null
impact), and roong materials for solar cells (positive impact).
Finally, with regard to the after usage phase neither products
nor practices with a less negative or null impact can be identied,
whereas some practices are developed with a positive impact. In
particular, products are developed that can be disassembled or
directly used to generate energy (such as vehicles or tires) at the
end of their lifecycle.
and practices developed in the Consumer Goods sector, with a focus
on pollution.
In the before usage phase, many practices are developed to
reduce emissions due to production and transportation and to
ltrate and purify water (less negative impact). In terms of null
environmental impact, several practices are aimed at eliminating
chemicals and substances that could be harmful during production
processes (such as chlorine, uorine, etc.). In terms of positive
impact the cleaning up of contaminated sites and the use of waste
as fuels contribute to reduce waste in the environment.
Referring to the usage phase, the most important actions to
reduce pollution are developed with regard to vehicles. In terms of
less negative impact, these include all actions developed for the
focus energy plus other systems to reduce vehicles emissions,
such as particulate lters, and exhaust gas treatment system.
Several other innovations for vehicles, such as fuel cells, and elec-
tric cars, or tires without aromatic oils, can be mentioned as having
a null impact. In terms of positive impact, the following products
can be mentioned: silicone sealants with biological active
substances and fungicide as well as water purication equipment.
6
With regard to the after usage phase, products are developed
with reduced (less negative impact) or null (null impact) content
of toxic substances, harmful after product disposal, such as lead,
chrome, uorocarbon, and PVC.
4.3. Industrials
The industrial sector includes companies whose businesses are
mainly related to the manufacture and distribution of capital goods,
such as construction, engineering and building products, aero-
space, electrical equipment, and industrial machinery.
Table 10 in Appendix B shows the GOM lled with green
products and practices developed in the Industrials sector, with
a focus on materials.
With regard to the before usage phase, companies reduce their
products environmental impact (less negative) giving emphasis to
efcient production processes (in terms of reduction of water and
raw materials use, and waste production). Important efforts are
also made to reduce size and weight of products, components and
packaging, therefore at the same time both saving materials and
reducing energy consumption and then pollution production due to
transportation. Furthermore, several products are developed using
a certain amount of recycled material. In order to have a null
impact several products are completely made of recycled materials,
or renewable raw materials coming from certied sources (such as
wood, cellulose, and bers). Finally, the recyclability of by-products
and the recovery and reuse of water, which can then be used as
inputs for other processes, can be mentioned as practices with
a positive impact.
In the usage phase, two main types of products with less
negative impact are developed: products with higher durability
Table 2
The Green Option Matrix.
. Environmental focus
Materials Energy Pollution
Life cycle phase / BU U AU BU U AU BU U AU
Environmental impact Less negative
Null
Positive
Table 3
Sample composition.
.Industrial sector Number of companies
Technology 23
Consumer goods 36
Industrials 55
Basic materials 28
Total 142
6
With regard to products, in this paper the type of environmental impact is
evaluated considering as unit of analysis products that represent autonomous
systems for the nal customer. For example, a water lter can be an autonomous
system as the consumer may buy it as such, whereas a particulate lter for cars is
not an autonomous system as consumers generally buy it as part of a car; thus its
environmental impact will be considered as part of the car. However, this
assumption may be altered according to the GOM user and its objectives.
and resource-saving products (which consume less water, deter-
gent or paper during their use). Products using renewable resources
(such as biomass power plants) could be mentioned as having
a null impact, whereas neither products nor practices are identi-
ed as having a positive impact.
Referring to the after usage phase, products and packaging
partially biodegradable or recyclable (less negative impact),
completely biodegradable (null impact), and completely reusable
or recyclable (positive impact) are developed.
Table 11 in Appendix B reports the GOM related to green
a focus on energy.
In the before usage phase, companies reduce their products
environmental impact (less negative) through energy efcient
production processes, designing products requiring less energy to
be produced and installed, using computerized control systems to
reduce energy consumption during production processes, or opti-
mizing transportation processes. The use of renewable energy
sources can be mentioned as practice aimed at having a null
impact, whereas waste heat and gas recovery for power generation
as practice with a positive impact.
Several products and practices can be identied in the usage
phase. A number of high-energy efcient products and compo-
nents are developed (less negative impact). In particular, several
actions are undertaken for vehicles, such as the development of
fuel-efcient engines, hybrid vehicles, the use of materials
reducing aerodynamic drag or weight of vehicles, and energy
conserving systems applied to engines (e.g. converter for hybrid
cars). In the eld of building and construction, thermal insulating
products can be mentioned. At a higher level of environmental
impact, we can mention green buildings, with integrated photo-
voltaic solar system on the roof (null impact), several products
linked to renewable energy production (wind turbines, hydro
turbines, solar cells, biomass power plants), materials increasing
power generation efciency, and systems to generate electrical
energy and process heat from waste (positive impact).
In the after usage phase, neither products nor practices are
identied with a less negative or null impact, whereas, in terms of
positive impact, products are developed that can be recycled into
biofuels at the end of their lifecycle.
In the before usage phase, companies have implemented
several practices to reduce emissions from production processes
(such as more efcient heat generation systems) and transportation
processes (such as use of more efcient transportation means or
reduction of size and weight of products). Many products are
developed reducing the content of chemicals and hazardous
materials. Furthermore, a modication of product formulation can
lead to the reduction of greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions during
production (such as in the case of composite cements, with reduced
clinker content). All these actions can be positioned in the less
negative impact cell. In terms of null environmental impact,
practices are mainly devoted to the prevention of soil pollution. The
reuse of waste, contributing to reduce waste fromthe environment,
could be mentioned as having a positive impact.
Referring to the usage phase, several technologies and systems
to reduce pollution (less negative impact) are developed with
regard to vehicles: clean engines, hybrid vehicles, and lightweight
vehicles. Other interesting innovations are excavators able to adapt
power levels to each operation, and detergents with low volatile
organic compounds (VOCs) emissions. Fuel cells and detergents
without chemical cleaners can be mentioned as having a null
impact. In terms of positive impact some interesting products are
developed to reduce pollution produced by other products or
processes. Among them a special note goes to products to reduce
CO
2
(CO
2
absorbent ceramics), NO
x
(photocatalytic cements) from
air and oil (oil-skimmers) from water and to accelerate the
decomposition of waste.
In the after usage phase, most actions are addressed to develop
products and packaging with null impact: products without
materials, chemicals, and gases (such as lead, bismuth, bromine,
uorocarbons) that are hazardous when products are disposed, and
packaging that does not produce dioxin when burned.
4.4. Basic materials
The basic materials sector includes companies involved with the
discovery, development and processing of raw materials. In
particular, it includes mining and rening of metals, chemical
products and forestry products.
products and practices developed in the Basic Materials sector, with
a focus on materials.
products environmental impact (less negative) through efcient
production processes (in terms of reduction of water and raw
materials use, and waste production). In order to have a null
impact several products are developed using only recycled mate-
rials, or renewable and natural materials. In particular, interesting
products could be mentioned in the eld of polymers (such as
biomass derived plastics). Achievement of zero waste and zero
water to discharge through operational efciency also deserves
special note. Among practices with a positive impact we can
mention the recycle of waste materials, hazardous wastes, water,
and used oil generated from operations; all of these can then be
used as inputs for other processes.
In the usage phase, we mention as products with less negative
impact, paints for car renishes reducing the amount of material
required for adequate coverage compared to traditional systems,
and special materials enabling a longer useful life of products. No
products or practices with a null or positive impact are identied,
leaving then innovation opportunities opened for rms.
Referring to the after usage phase, products and materials
partially biodegradable (less negative impact), completely biode-
gradable (null impact), and completely recyclable (positive impact)
are developed.
a focus on energy.
products environmental impact (less negative) through energy
efcient production processes. The use of renewable energy sour-
ces and the replacement of oil as heating fuel by peat, biomass and
recycled fuel are practices aimed at having a null impact. Co-
generation plants, waste heat and gas recovery for power genera-
tion, and reuse of waste to produce energy can be mentioned as
having a positive impact.
With regard to the usage phase, in terms of less negative
impact, we can mention solar reecting pigments (preventing heat
absorption on roof coatings), heat transfer uids (reducing energy
consumption in refrigeration systems), paints for car renishes
(requiring less energy than traditional systems), and aluminum for
the vehicular industry (reducing weight and then saving energy).
No products are identied as having a null impact, whereas we can
mention organic photovoltaic cells and aluminum photovoltaic
panels as having a positive impact.
With regard to the after usage phase, materials that can be
recycled with high-energy efcient processes (such as aluminum)
can be mentioned as having a less negative impact, whereas
neither products nor practices with a null or positive impact are
identied, leaving then opportunities to innovate for companies.
Referring to the before usage phase, several practices are
adoptedtoreduceemissions fromproductionprocesses (suchas ue
gas cleaning systems, more efcient heat generation systems, and
technologies to capture the CO
2
coming from coal combustion) and
to reduce waste production (less negative impact). Interms of null
impact, the main actions are the development of newprocesses that
generate no by-products, systems that biologically clean waste-
water, carbonneutral polymers (suchas plant-basedpolylactic acid),
ber recycled from biomass and not requiring organic solvents in
manufacturing, and the avoidance of chemicals substances. Interms
of positive impact, the reuse of wastewater, which contributes to
reduce waste from the environment, can be mentioned.
In the usage phase, many products and practices to reduce
pollution (less negative impact) are developed. These refer to
reductionof VOCs inproducts, lighter materials for vehicular industry,
elimination of sulfur from gasoline and diesel fuels. As products
having a null impact, we can identify chlorine-free bleaching crop
protection products and green lights that avoid problems for birds
migration. Interms of positive impact, some interesting products are
developed to support environmental preservation (tools and systems
for water purication, air purication, soil cleanup).
With regard to the after usage phase, we identify only one
product as having a null impact (halogen-free ame retardant
alloy resin), whereas neither products nor practices are identied
as having less negative or positive impact.
4.5. A comparison of green products and practices in different
sectors
The comparison among sectors is made by measuring four sector
variables: (i) the most diversied environmental focus, that is iden-
tied counting the total number of lled matrix cells
7
per environ-
mental focus type, regardlessthelifecyclephaseaswell as theimpact;
(ii) diversication of products and practices within each environ-
mental focus, i.e. the number of lled matrix cells for the considered
environmental focus; (iii) diversication of products and practices
withpositive impact, which is measured as the total number of lled
matrix cells corresponding to positive impact regardless the envi-
ronmental focus; (iv) overall diversicationof products andpractices,
which is measured by the total number of lled matrix cells.
Diversication has been chosen as the main criterion to
compare the behaviour of companies operating in different sectors,
since it allows us to highlight for each sector both howthe meaning
of green is multidimensional and howmany options for greening
products and practices are available.
Referring to level (i), in the Technology sector, the most diver-
sied types of environmental focus are materials and energy. This
result is coherent with the kind of products developed in this sector
(e.g. printers, cellular phones, computers) wherein the most rele-
vant impacts are represented by materials, especially before and
after usage (most of products and practices are indeed identied in
such phases), and energy consumption, especially during product
use (most of products and practices are indeed identied in such
a phase). By addressing the environmental focus energy, not only
products environmental impact is reduced but also energy and cost
savings benet customers. In the Consumer Goods sector and in the
Industrial sector, materials prove to be the most diversied envi-
ronmental focus. This result depends on several innovation
opportunities available in terms of materials used in products of
these sectors. Finally, materials and pollution are the predominant
types of environmental focus in the Basic Materials sector. This was
expected since several innovation options are available to reduce
materials environmental impact in terms of materials features
(such as recyclability, biodegradability, etc.) and reduction of
pollution due to materials toxicity, whereas fewer innovation
opportunities are available with regard to energy.
Considering level (ii), with regard to the environmental focus
materials, the most diversied sector is Consumer Goods, wherein
all matrix cells (life cycle phase/environmental impact) are lled
out, followed by Industrial, Basic Materials, and Technology.
Referring to the environmental focus energy, the most diversied
sectors are Consumer Goods and Industrials, wherein seven out of
nine cells are lled out, followed by Technology and Basic Mate-
rials. For the environmental focus pollution, the most diversied
sector is Consumer Goods (all cells are lled out in this case),
followed by Industrial, Basic Materials, and Technology. To sum up,
the most diversied sector is Consumer Goods regardless the
environmental focus. This result is coherent with expectations,
since Consumer Goods is the sector with the widest range of
products, which in turn reects on the variety of developed green
products and practices.
With regard to level (iii) the most diversied sector with respect
to products and practices with a positive impact is Consumer
Goods, wherein eight out of nine cells are covered, followed by
Industrial, Basic Materials, and Technology. We believe that the
result of the Consumer Goods is the effect of what noted above
(wide range of products) joint with the great efforts by companies
in this sector to develop innovative products and practices that
reduce the environmental impact of other products.
Considering level (iv), the sector with the highest overall
diversication of products and practices is Consumer Goods fol-
lowed by Industrial, Basic Materials, and Technology. In our
opinion, especially in this case, the wide range of products devel-
oped by Consumer Goods sector plays a key role to explain the
observed rank.
Based on the observed green products and practices, some
general considerations can also be developed. First of all, it should
be specied that the positioning of products and practices in the
GOM is not mutually exclusive, meaning that a product (practice)
can be positioned in more than one GOM cell. Such a feature is very
useful to both identify and communicate those green products and
practices that present a manifold impact (which can be cross-focus
as well as cross-phase). For example, almost all sectors have
adopted practices such as size and weight reduction of products,
packaging, and materials. These efforts are very valuable in terms of
environmental impact, since they are related to all the three types
of environmental focus. In fact, they allow for material conserva-
tion, reduce the energy used and the pollution produced for
transportation (before usage), as well as reduce the energy used
and the pollution produced during product use (usage) when
7
It is not relevant how many practices or products are positioned in each cell, but
that at least one product or one practice has been positioned in that matrix cell.
referred to vehicles. Furthermore, practices aimed at improving
energy efciency of processes or products are quite common as
well as very valuable, since they also have an indirect effect on
pollution reduction.
5. How companies can put the GOM into practice
The GOM can be used by companies as a market analysis tool to
study competitors green product offering and as a communication
tool for public relations activities. If the purpose of the matrix is
conducting a market analysis of competitors green products
offering, rst, a market analyst should identify the companys
main competitors as well as their green products, then, an envi-
ronmental expert, able to recognize these products environmental
focus, phase of life cycle, and type of impact, should position them
in the matrix. The positioning of green products and practices of
the DJSWI companies (as discussed in Section 4) indeed represents
an example of the use of the matrix as a market analysis tool. The
matrix lled out with competitors green product offering could
then be taken into account by the top management, for decisions
making about the green product portfolio management. For
example, a company can decide the share of new products with
environmental features similar to the ones of competitors prod-
ucts, as well as the share of more innovative green products. In the
former case new products would be positioned in already lled
cells of the matrix deriving from the market analysis, in the latter
case these products would be positioned in empty cells.
If the purpose of the matrix is to communicate to stakeholders
the companys environmental efforts, rst, managers knowledge-
able about environmental performance of products and processes
(e.g. head of environmental management/affairs or head of HSE
management) should position in it the companys green products
and practices. Then, people in charge of public relations should
further elaborate the matrix to make it more easily readable and
understandable by stakeholders. We suggest such a matrix to be
included in the companys environmental/sustainability report.
Despite the above discussed benets, it is not straightforward to
identify to which cell of the GOM a given real product/practice
should be assigned. To support companies in this task we further
detailed the procedure reported in Appendix A as a checklist
(Appendix C). The development of such a checklist, with respect to
the dimension environmental impact, beneted from the analysis
we conducted on the 142 DJWSI companies: after the detailed
screening of the implemented products and practices, we charac-
terized them according to the environmental impact (less negative,
null, positive), then developed a short general description of any
group of products (practices) recognized as similar, nally used
such a description as an itemof the checklist, which a company can
easily use as a reference to position actual products (practices).
6. Discussion and conclusion
This paper has stressed that despite several denitions and
classications of green products, an integrated characterization
seems to be still lacking in the literature. In fact, most of the
contributions available in the literature generally put emphasis on
single aspects that can be associated with the greenness of
a product. In particular, this paper has explicitly recognized
a specic type of green products, which previous tools (such as the
Ecodesign matrix) do not highlight: products contributing to the
improvement of the environment. We dene such products as
having a positive impact in that they reduce the environmental
impact of other products.
A new dimension to better characterize green products has then
been introduced, type of environmental impact. It can assume
three different levels, i.e. less negative, null, and positive, whose
meaning is slightly different according to each of the three envi-
ronmental focus (materials, energy, and pollution). A Green Option
Matrix (GOM) has been developed to integrate this new dimension
with environmental focus (materials, energy, and pollution) and
life cycle phase (before usage, usage, and after usage).
The GOM has then been used to analyze and characterize green
products and practices developed by a sample of companies
considered best performers in sustainability. In particular we have
analyzed all companies listed into the DJSWI in the sectors Tech-
nology, Consumer Goods, Industrials, and Basic Materials. The
comparison of green products and practices in different sectors has
highlighted which types of environmental focus are most impor-
tant for each sector, and to which extent the developed green
products and practices are diversied. As expected, Consumer
Goods has proven to be the sector with the highest levels of
diversication of green products and practices.
Several questions were posed at the beginning of this paper.
First, we raised the point about why very different products,
becoming more and more widespread in the market (such as hybrid
cars, recycled products, photovoltaic cells, and bioplastics to name
a few), can be claimed as green. Our study, by helping to structure
the knowledge about products environmental features, highlights
the multi-facets features of greenness and provides us with
a roadmap to understand commonalities and differences among
several types of green products.
Another questionwe raisedwas relatedto practices that shouldbe
implemented by companies willing to develop green products. By
conducting an analysis of green products and practices developed by
142 companies, leaders in sustainability and operating in different
industrial sectors, and positioning them in the GOM, we suggest
awiderange of options that couldbeimplementedbycompanies that
are starting to shift towards more sustainable business models. The
other question we raised was about how companies can easily and
effectively communicate to stakeholders the environmental features
of their green products. Due to a rapid increase of the public interest
towards environmental issues, companies are feeling more and more
in duty bound to communicate to stakeholders their environmental
efforts. While several guidelines exist for reporting overall rms
environmental performance (see for instance the Global Reporting
Initiative), similar tools have not been developed for products. Of
course, the environmental excellence of products can be communi-
cated through eco-labels or in terms of LCA results. However, not for
all product categories eco-labels exist (thinkof products relatedtothe
productionof renewable energy), and, when available, they generally
give a synthetic indication of high environmental performance,
without providing a detailed picture of the different types of envi-
ronmental focus, impact, or life cycle phase that the product
addresses. On the other hand, communicating LCA results could be
misleading for customers if producers of competitive products do not
do the same. The GOMmay thus represent a suitable way for rms to
communicate environmental features of their green products.
This study has several implications for companies. The GOM, in
that helps to structure the knowledge about green products and
practices (referable to a single company as well as to a whole sector)
may represent a useful tool for companies that want to develop
green products. In particular, the value of this matrix can be
twofold: (i) as a market analysis tool, helping companies to analyze
competitors green products and practices, so providing tangible
directions to green their products, as well as suggesting directions
to be explored, by identifying areas wherein green products or
practices have yet to be developed (empty cells of the GOM); in this
sense the GOM can support green product portfolio management;
(ii) as a communication tool, helping companies in their commu-
nication strategies to stakeholders about the environmental
impacts of their products or practices (in particular we suggest the
lled out GOM to be included in a companys environmental/
sustainability report). It should be noticed that, since the use of the
GOM as a communication tool helps companies to be specic in
their green claims (the GOM forces a company to explicit the when,
why, and how much), it prevents them from making general claims
of ecological, green, sustainable products, so reducing the risk of
green washing.
Among the possible limitations of our study, we would stress
that the GOM is not proposed as a tool to assess the environmental
impact of products. In fact, a careful evaluation of a product envi-
ronmental impact would require the use of life cycle assessment
tools and should take into account the conditions of use of the
product itself as well as external factors, such as the state of the
ecosystem, which may affect its impact. The proposed approach is
indeed qualitative in terms of the estimated environmental impact
as well as referred to specic phases and specic types of envi-
ronmental focus, rather than quantitative and measured over the
entire life cycle. Such an approach has been adopted since it is
coherent with the main purpose of our study, which is to offer an
easy tool to managers for green product market analysis and
communication. Methodologies and tools for a quantitative
assessment of the environmental impact (such as LCA software) are
already available and out of the scope of this study.
Furthermore, even though we developed the checklist to the
best of our knowledge and analyzing companies recognized as
sustainability leaders, we cannot exclude that additional items
should be added to it, as a result of the technological progress as
well as the existence of green products and practices that could
result difcult to refer to one of the checklist items.
While the developed matrix as well as the procedure to position
products and practices in it were tested through the analysis of the
sustainability reports of 142 sustainability leaders companies, an
interesting avenue for future research could be testing the devel-
oped checklist in some case study companies through direct
interviews with managers.
Appendix A
Steps to characterize green products and practices.
a e r a s u c o f y f i t n e d I
e l c y c e f i l y f i t n e d I
e s a h p
e s a h p
e s a h p
s l a i r e t a m y g r e n e / n o i t u l l o p
e t s a w c i x o t
. U . B . U . B
. U . B
. U . D . U . D . U . D . U . A . U . A . U . A
e p y t . d I
m i f o p c a t
e p y t . d I
m i f o p c a t
e p y t . d I
m i f o p c a t
e p y t . d I
m i f o p c a t
e p y t . d I
m i f o p c a t
e p y t . d I
m i f o p ct a
e p y t . d I
m i f o p c a t
e p y t . d I
m i f o p c a t
e p y t . d I
m i f o p c a t
s s e L
. g e n
s s e L
. g e n
s s e L
. g e n
s s e L
. g e n
s s e L
. g e n
s s e L
. g e n
s s e L
. g e n
s s e L
. g e n
s s e L
. g e n
l l u N l l u N l l u N N l l u l l u N l l u N N l l u l l u N l l u N . s o P . s o P . s o P . s o P . s o P . s o P . s o P . s o P . s o P
3 P E T S
2 P E T S
1 P E T S
Appendix B
Table 4
Green option matrix for the environmental focus materials in the Technology sector.
.Impact Life cycle phase
Before usage Usage After usage
Less negative - Efcient production processes
(reducing water use,
raw material use,
waste production)
- Reduction of products,
components and
packaging size and weight
(e.g. new generation
semiconductors, PCs, etc)
- Manuals on CD-ROM to
minimize paper use
- Reduction of packaging impact
(e.g. packaging printed with monochrome
ink; universal packaging component, etc)
- Products with extended lifecycles
(e.g. making microprocessors compatible
with different types of applications;
making products with more resistant
and exible materials)
- Reduction of paper usage,
thanks to user-friendly
function in copiers
-
Impact Life cycle phase
Null - Use of recycled materials for
products and packaging (ex. plastics)
- Elimination of harmful substances
- Use of bers or paper
coming from certied
sustainably managed forests (FSC, PEFC)
- Bio-based materials from
renewable materials
(such as polylactate-based plastic)
for notebook PCs or
cell phones covers
- Recycling water from
rainfall and sewage
- Software delivery through
download instead of CDs
- - Elimination of waste CDs by
delivering software through
download instead of CDs
- Biodegradable foam for packaging
Positive - Water reuse and recycle
- Material recycle
- Hazardous wastes recycle
- Waste recycle or reuse
- Scrap/by-products recycling
- - Easily disassemblable products
(avoidance of glues,
adhesives and welds)
(printers, PCs, notebooks PCs, etc)
- Reusable products, components,
and packaging
- Recyclable products, components
(phone and batteries, printers)
and packaging
Table 5
Green option matrix for the environmental focus energy in the Technology sector.
Less negative - Practices reducing energy consumption
(e.g. use of energy saving lightings, use of recycled
rather than raw materials, integrating the
control of lighting and air conditioning,
tuning air conditioning and lighting based on
sunlight and heat transmission)
- High-energy efcient products
(scanners, printers, projectors, copiers,
PCs, faxes, monitors, multifunctional devices,
speaking ampliers, transistors, processors,
microprocessors, etc)
(e.g. warm-up time shortened, use of LEDs,
optimization of power consumption
systems for desktop PCs)
- High-energy efcient attachments
(e.g. chargers for electronic products)
- High-energy efcient components
(e.g. chips, new generation semiconductors
using less power per transistor)
- Devices signalling to unplug cell
phone charger when the battery is full
- Low-power electronic devices
(such as PDAs, web tablets, portable and
wired Internet access devices, gateways)
- Automatic luminance control function for
LCDs, so reducing LED consumption
- Dimming LEDs and small LEDs
- System integrating multiple functions
on a single chip
- Energy prole to monitor energy use by
different active applications and turn off
the not needed ones (e.g. in cell phone)
-
Null - Use of renewable energy sources - Eco-mechanism for watches powered by the
unwinding of a mainspring with no
batteries or motors
-
Positive - Co-generation plants (e.g. use of reverse osmosis reject water
from water treatment facility) to provide electricity,
heating, and cooling
- Reusing energy from
exhaust hot gas
- Photovoltaic solar cells -
Table 6
Green option matrix for the environmental focus pollution in the Technology sector.
Less negative - Reduction of emissions in
production processes
- Reduction of emissions due to transportation
(e.g. use of local materials, transportation
optimization, products' size and weight
reduction, software delivery
through downloading instead of CD)
- energy efcient products
and applications micropro-
cessors meeting the most
stringent international inter-
ference and health standards
for radio frequency
-
Null - Processors produced with
a lead-free process
- Preventing the use of
hazardous materials and chemicals
- Use of renewable energy
sources
- Use of supercritical
uid technology as
alternative to classic solvents
- No ozone-depleting
substances (e.g. CFCs) used
in the production process
- - Elimination of CFCs and radioactive materials
- Elimination of harmful substances
- Halogen-free products
- Lead-free products
- Elimination of PVC in packaging
- Safe disposal of used products
- Recyclable products (no electronic wastes in landll)
Positive - - -
Table 7
Green option matrix for the environmental focus materials in the Consumer Goods sector.
Less negative - Reduction of products, components and
packaging size and weight
- Reduction of water use
- Reduction of raw materials
- Reduction of waste generation
- Products partially made of
post-consumer material
(e.g. bottles with recycled glass,
cans with recycled
aluminium and steel;
packaging with recycled plastic)
- Products partially made by
renewable raw materials
(e.g. detergents, glue sticks,
wallpaper sticks, packaging adhesives)
- Replacement of empty package
water rinsers with air rinsers
- Systems reducing liquid losses
during production line changes,
start-ups and shutdowns
- High performing detergents
(saving water)
for hands or clothes
(e.g. no water is needed
to generate the foam)
- Partially biodegradable products
Null - Use of recycled water in
- Use of natural and
renewable raw materials
(e.g. gum rubber and rice
husks and organic cotton in footwear,
soy oil-based polyurethane
foam for passenger seats in vehicles,
organic cotton in clothes,
bioplastics in packaging)
- Wood and timber coming from
sustainably managed (local) forests
- No articial colours and avours in food
- Use of recycled materials
(e.g. recycled polyester, recycled
PET plastic, recycled fabrics)
in products and packaging
(e.g. clothes, footwear, food carrier bags,
tissue papers and towels of
paper, building materials)
- Shampoos with plant extracts
form certied organic crops
- Toothpaste with materials
natural based or from certied
organic cultivations
- Soap, shampoo, and shower
gel formulations made of
natural ingredients
- Biodegradable/compostable
products and packaging
(e.g. soap and shower gel,
footwear, packaging for food)
Table 8
Green option matrix for the environmental focus energy in the Consumer Goods sector.
Less negative - Low energy consuming production
processes
- Combined heat and power plant
- Food requiring less amount of heat
to be cooked
- Energy efcient products (e.g. coolers, washing machines,
batteries, lightbulbs, LEDs, TVs, DVD home theatre, air
conditioners, buildings, eco-uorescent lamps)
- High performing detergents
(working at low temperatures)
- Intelligent systems with sensor for energy efciency (in TVs)
- Intelligent chargers automatically shutting off when
objects charged
- Ejector cycle in refrigeration
- Heat insulating interlayer lm for laminated glass
- Insulating sealants, tile adhesives for houses
Vehicles:
- Hybrid vehicles
- High-concentration ethanol vehicles
- Cars with solar roof
- Biodiesel compatible vehicles
- High precision injection
(four-cylinder petrol engine)
- Auto start stop function
(switch off the engine when
the car is at a standstill and in neutral)
- Electric power steering
(ensure that energy is only
used during actual steering manoeuvres)
- Brake energy regeneration
(power from brake pedal)
- Electrically controlled vents
(air resistance reduced,
as is fuel consumption)
- Gear shift indicator
(the system gives recommendations
on how to go up and
down the gears reducing
fuel consumption)
- Use of lighter materials
- Hybrid engine
- Lithium-ion batteries for hybrid engine
- Natural gas vehicles
- LPG (Liqueed Petroleum Gas) vehicles
- Biodiesel vehicles
- Starter generator facilitating idle-stops
- More fuel-efcient engines
(such as high precision injection,
-
(continued on next page)
Positive - Sustainable forest management,
promotion of tree planting
- Recycle 100% of waste (zero emission system)
- Systems treating all process water,
enabling it to be recycled and reused
(e.g. membrane bio reactor)
- Production waste recycling
- Reuse and/or recycle of
raw materials and wastes
- Use of by-products as raw materials
- Use recycled water for cooling
water and plant maintenance
- Glue allowing for fast and reliable
repair of durable goods
(extending their life and
conserving resources)
- Recyclable products,
components, and packaging
(e.g. batteries, toners, tyres,
vehicles, televisions, radiator,
bottles and containers
- Recyclable house
(reuse system house)
- Reusable packaging
- Repairable and
reusable alternators
- Easily disassembly
products (e.g. oil lters)
- Management systems
that collect, recover and
recycle post-consumer packaging,
products, or components
(fax toner cartridge, batteries,
consumer electronics)
direct injection, transmission efciency, common rail
system; improvement of injectors
for ner spray automatization;
variable cam timing; battery engine
control unit for hybrid cars)
- Common rail system
Tires:
- Weight of the tire reduced
- Rolling resistance decreased
- Tire-pressure ination-monitoring systems
Null - Use of renewable energy sources
(such as solar, wind, hydroelectric,
geothermal power generation,
biofuels, etc)
- Green building (natural ventilation,
thermal mass via the concrete
frame, solar thermal panels for
hot water heating and a wind turbine
to generate electricity for use in lighting)
- Second generation biofuels
-
Positive - Use of landll gas to generate energy
- Reuse of heat from production processes
- Waste wood as biomass energy source
- Roong material for solar cells - Recovering tyres as
fuel with a high
heating value
- Vehicle 95%
recoverable; 10%
can provide energy
(for cement
production, heating, etc.)
Table 9
Green option matrix for the environmental focus pollution in the Consumer Goods sector.
Less negative Reduction of production emissions:
- Process that eliminates
the need for steam in
soap manufacturing
- Use of climate-friendly ice
cream cabinets
(hydrocarbon refrigerant cabinets)
- Sustainable agriculture:
reduction of pesticide use
- Reduction of chemicals
and hazardous materials
- Reduction in consumption of
solvents
(main source of VOC emissions)
- Reduction of use of paint
containing toluene, xylene or styrene
- Reduction of release of
chemical substances into
the environment
- Minimization of waste generated
Reduction emissions due to transportation:
- Use of cleaner, more fuel-efcient vehicles
- Reduction in the number of vehicles
- Reduction of packaging material
- Concentrated detergents
- Optimization of logistics processes
Water:
- Water ltration systems to
maximize the purity of water
- Treatment of water after usage
Vehicles:
- (All items mentioned in the
environmental focus energy)
- NO
x
reducing systems
- Integrated powertrain and lter
systems to reduce NO
x
, CO and volatile
hydrocarbons emissions
- Exhaust gas treatment system
- Particulate lter
Tires:
- Weight of the tire reduced
- Rolling resistance decreased
- Tire-pressure
ination-monitoring systems
Fuels:
- Second generation biofuels
- Reduction of halogenated
plastic for electrical wires
Null - Use of elemental chlorine-free
(ECF) and total chlorine-free
(TCF) bleached pulp
- Use of uorine-free glue
- Fuel cell vehicles
- Electric cars
- Tyres tread compounds
without aromatic oils
- Lead-free solder in manufacturing
products (such as wide screen TVs,
DVD players, digital still
cameras and cellular telephones)
- PVC-free products
Table 11
Green option matrix for the environmental focus energy in the Industrial sector.
Less negative - Products requiring less energy to be produced
- Products requiring less energy to be installed
- Use of computerized control systems to reduce
energy consumption during production processes
- Transport optimization
- Use of more fuel-efcient vehicles
- Size and weight reduction, concentration
of products (reduction of transportation)
- Use of more efcient heat generation systems
- Energy-efcient products
(LEDs, lamps, engines, air
conditioners, buildings, etc)
- Thermal insulating
products/materials (e.g. ecoglass)
- Fuel-efcient engines
- Hybrid vehicles
- Lightweight vehicles
- Energy-efcient heat pump systems
- Energy conserving products
(e.g. converter for hybrid cars and
other systems applied to engines)
- Use of materials reducing
aerodynamic drag of vehicles
- Reduction of vehicles weight
-
Null - Use of renewable energy sources
(such as solar, wind, hydroelectric,
geothermal power generation, etc)
- Green buildings with photovoltaic
solar system on the roof
-
Positive - Waste heat recovery for power generation
- Waste gases recovery for power generation
- Wind turbines
- Hydro turbines
- Solar cells
- Biomass power plants
- Materials increasing power generation efciency
- System for generating electrical energy and process
heat from residues of paper production
- Waste products
recyclable into biofuels
- Control and elimination
of chemical substances
- Elimination of hazardous wastes
- Responsible disposal of unsold
product and of packaging
- Use of hydrourocarbon (HFC)
free insulation in refrigerated
point-of-sale equipment
- Toluene-free adhesive products
- Chrome-free leather
- Evaporator without
hexavalent chromium (in vehicles)
- Mercury-free bulb (in vehicles)
- Lead-free starter (in vehicles)
- Use of hydrourocarbon
(HFC) free insulation in refrigerated
point-of-sale equipment
- Avoidance of the use of
softeners in PVC
- Non-uorocarbon car
air conditioner
Positive - Redevelopment of browneld land;
cleaning up of contaminated sites; returning
of the land to productive
- High-quality refuse derived fuel
- Mold blocker silicone sealant through
biological active substances and fungicide
- Drainage water purication equipment
-
Table 10
Green option matrix for the environmental focus materials in the Industrial sector.
Less negative - Products with a percentage of recycled materials
- Water efciency
- Raw materials efciency
- Size and weight reduction of products and
packaging reduction of cushioning material
- Products with high durability
(more robust, with longer service life)
- Resource-saving products (which consume
less water, detergent and paper
during their use)
- Products partially made of
biodegradable or recyclable materials
Null - Products completely made from
recycled or discarded material
- Products completely made of renewable
raw material coming from certied sources
(such as wood, cellulose, and bers)
- Elimination of waste in all its forms
- Products using renewable
resources (such as biomass power plants)
- Biodegradable products
(such as bioplastics)
Positive - Water recover and reuse
- Recyclable by-products
- - Reusable packaging and products
- Recyclable packaging and products
Table 12
Green option matrix for the environmental focus pollution in the Industrial sector.
Less negative - Reduction of GHG emissions
during production processes
- Miniaturization, weight reduction,
concentration of products
(reduction of transportation)
- Transport optimization
- Use of cleaner-burning alternative
fuel vehicles for transportation
- Use of hybrid vehicles for transportation
- Use of more efcient heat generation systems
- Use of control systems
helping to reduce GHG emissions
- Composite cements
(with reduced clinker content)
- Reduction of hazardous materials
- Reduction of chemicals
- Clean engines
- Hybrid vehicles
- Efcient crankcase
ventilation ltration systems
- Vehicles with exhaust gas
recirculation and selected
catalytic reduction
- Lightweight vehicles
- Excavator able to adapt
power levels to each operation
- Detergent with low VOC emissions
- Tube for furnaces
ensuring low nitrogen emissions
-
Null - Prevention of soil pollution - Fuel cells
- Detergents without chemical cleaners
- Packaging that does not produce
dioxin when burned
- Products (such as air conditioners)
without uorocarbons
- Elimination of hazardous materials and
chemicals (such as lead, bismuth, bromine, etc)
from products
- Tools that do not require the
use of any cutting uids
Positive - Waste reuse - Photocatalytic cements
- Oil-skimmers based on steel
belts facilitating recovery of
oil from contaminated water
- CO
2
absorbent with barium
orthotitanate ceramics
- Technology to accelerate the
decomposition of waste
- Ceramic ltering systems
particulate trapping for diesel engines
-
Table 13
Green option matrix for the environmental focus materials in the Basic Materials sector.
Less negative - Reduction of water wastes
- Minimization of waste generation
- Minimization of raw material use new
processes for propylene oxide, to reduce water use
- New processes for propylene oxide,
to reduce water use
- Paint for car renishes reducing the
amount of material required for adequate
coverage compared to traditional systems
- Special steels enabling a longer useful life of products
- Organic photovoltaic cells
Null - Use of recycled metal to produce
top quality aluminium foil
- Wood coming from
sustainably managed forests
- Chelating agents made of renewable materials
- Production of polyethylene
from renewable resource (sugar cane)
- Sustainable management of water
- Renewable polymers
(such as plant-based polylactic acid)
for bres, textiles and plastic resin products
- Biomass derived plastic
(plant ber-reinforced plastic made by
plant-based polylactic acid and cellulose)
- Biodiesel (e.g. from canola)
- Organic compound made of recycled vegetal
wastes and sludge from the steelworks
- Zero waste through operational efciency
- Zero water to discharge
- - Biodegradable materials
(polymers, chelates, biomass
derived plastics, solvents)
Positive - Recycle waste materials
- Recycle hazardous wastes
- Reuse and recycle water
- Recycle of used oil generated from operations
- - Recyclable materials
(e.g. aluminium)
- Design-for-recycling
Table 14
Green option matrix for the environmental focus energy in the Basic Materials sector.
Less negative - Energy efcient production processes
- New processes for propylene
oxide, to reduce energy use
- Recirculation system to recycle
hot air and save energy
- Clean coal: technologies to
signicantly improve
efciency from the use of coal
- Solar reecting pigments
(preventing heat absorption on roof coatings)
- Heat transfer uids reduce
energy consumption in refrigeration systems
- Aluminium or transparent polycarbonate
for the vehicular industry (lightness saves energy)
- Paint for car renishes requiring
less energy to be used compared to traditional systems
- Energy efcient lighting solutions
- Materials that can be
recycled with high-energy
efcient processes
(e.g. aluminium)
Null - Use of green electricity
(from renewable energy sources)
- Replacement of oil as heating fuel
by peat, biomass and recycled fuel
- -
Positive - Used oil generated from
operations burned for energy recovery
- Use of by-product gas for
n-house generation systems
- Capture and conversion of coal
mine methane into saleable energy
- Piping methane gas from
landll to generate steam
- Waste incineration and energy recovery
- Energy co-generation plant
(use of surplus gas from iron and
steelmaking to produce electricity and steam)
- Reuse of wastes from wood
preparation to generate steam
- Organic photovoltaic cells
- Aluminium photovoltaic panels
-
Table 15
Green option matrix for the environmental focus pollution in the Basic Materials sector.
Less negative - Production processes with low emissions
- Reduction of hazardous substances
- Flue gas cleaning system
(reduction of no
x
and SO
x
)
- Recirculation system to
recycle hot air (reduction of co
2
)
- Clean coal: technologies to
capture the co
2
created from coal combustion
- Reduction of waste to landll
- Reduction of volatile organic compounds
(VOCs) in products
(e.g. car renishes and solvents)
- Use of aluminium in the vehicular industry
(lightness reduces emissions)
- Use of transparent polycarbonate in the
vehicular industry
(lightness reduces emissions)
- Use of special lighter materials
(such as steels) in transportation (containers)
- Stainless steel (lighter)
in the vehicular industry
- Brilliance scanner with radiation
doses reduced by up to 80%
- Removing of sulphur from
gasoline and diesel fuels
- Natural gas cylinders and
conversion kits for vehicles
(allowing switch between
natural gas and other fuels)
-
Null - New processes for propylene oxide,
to generate no by-products
- Wastewater cleaned biologically
before owing into the sea
- Avoidance of chemicals substances
- Carbon neutral polymers
(such as plant-based polylactic acid)
for bres, textiles and plastic resin products
- Fiber recycled from biomass and not requiring
organic solvents in manufacturing
- Emission-free alternative energy sources
- Chlorine-free bleaching crop
protection products ensuring
conservation of soil structure by l
eaving roots intact, helping to
prevent soil erosion
- Green lights not creating
problems for birds migration
- Halogen-free ame retardant
alloy resin (for DVD recorder)
Positive - Industrial re-use of municipal waste water - Products used to support environmental
preservation (water purication,
air purication, soil cleanup)
(e.g. chips detecting microorganisms for
soil and groundwater cleanup)
-
Appendix C. Checklist to guide the characterization of green
products and practices.
STEP 1
In which one(s)
8
of the following focus areas does the
product/practice display improved environmental performance
compared to industry standards or determines environmental
benets?
, Materials (including water) /go to the section materials
, Energy /go to the section energy
, Pollution/toxic waste / go to the section pollution/toxic
waste
Section materials
STEP 2
In which phase(s) of the product life cycle does the product/
practice display improved environmental performance compared
to industry standards or determines environmental benets?
, Before product usage/go to the section before product usage
, During product usage /go to the section during product usage
, After product usage/go to the section after product usage
Before product usage
STEP 3
Select the description that better reects the product or practice
and derive the corresponding type of impact.
During product usage
STEP 3
Select the description that better reects the product or
practice:
After product usage
STEP 3
Select the description that better reects the product or prac-
tice:
Section Energy
STEP 2
To which phase(s) of the product life cycle the improved envi-
ronmental performance of the product or the environmental
benets determined by the product refer?
, During product usage /go to the section during product usage
STEP 3
practice:
.Product or practice description Corresponding type of impact
, Eco-efcient production
processes
Less negative
, Reduction of product or
packagings size and weight
Less negative
, Use of recycled materials for
product or packaging
Null
, Use of materials not containing
harmful or toxic substances for
Null
, Use of renewable materials for
Null
, Use of environmentally
certied raw materials for
Null
, Production waste recycling/reuse Positive
, Production water recycling/reuse Positive
.Product or practice description Corresponding
type of impact
, Product with extended lifecycle/high durability Less negative
, Eco-efcient products, requiring/allowing the
use of less materials
Less negative
, Products using renewable raw materials (where
competitive products use non renewable ones)
Null
, Products that during use are in contact with
peoples skin and are made of natural/certied
materials
Null
, Products allowing to extend lifecycle of other products Positive
type of impact
, Product or packaging partly made of biodegradable
materials
Less negative
, Product or packaging partly made of recyclable
materials
Less negative
, Product or packaging completely made of
biodegradable materials
Null
, Product or packaging completely reusable,
remanufacturable, or recyclable
Positive
type of impact
, Products requiring less energy to be
produced or installed
Less negative
, Reduction of product or packagings
size and weight
Less negative
, Use of practices reducing energy
consumption in production plants
Less negative
, Transport optimization Less negative
, Use of more efcient energy generation
systems in production processes
Less negative
, Use of renewable energy sources
in production processes
Null
, Use of co-generation plants to provide
electricity, heating, and cooling in
Positive
, Generating energy from exhaust hot
gas/waste in production processes
Positive
8
Note that more than one choice is possible for steps 1 and 2. In such cases, all
the related sections need to be considered.
STEP 3
tice:
After product usage
STEP 3
tice:
Section polluation/toxic waste
STEP 2
To which phase(s) of the product life cycle the improved envi-
ronmental performance of the product or the environmental
benets determined by the product refer?
, During product usage / go to the section during product
usage
STEP 3
practice:
STEP 3
tice:
After product usage
STEP 3
practice:
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From green product denitions and classications to the Green Option Matrix

Rosa Maria Dangelico

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