Sustainable product design is not about public relations: Dr Mosongo Moukwa

There is more to corporate social responsibility (CSR) than slogans and good public relations. In fact, corporate social responsibility has evolved. Gone are the days when it was mainly about managing corporate reputations. It is now more about business fundamentals, such as how products are designed and how supply chains are managed.
 
Managers have increasingly become aware that they must squeeze the most out of finite resources. In that context, sustainable product design fits very well with lean production and tight supply chain management. It provides an opportunity for cost reductions, and this can be extended down to the consumer. For example, detergent companies offer products that use less water when you rinse each laundry. Paints companies offer products where less is required to provide the same look and health benefits like reducing the amount of volatile organic compounds and other toxins in the air.

The concept of sustainable product design does not merely involve responding to the growing environmental awareness of consumers and its impact on their purchasing decisions. It is more about business fundamentals, such as how products are designed and how supply chains are managed. It has also become an important business strategy for controlling operational costs, managing regulatory demands, and reducing energy expenditures.
 

While a lot of media attention has been given to renewable technologies such as wind turbines and solar panels, the bigger opportunity rests with the design and manufacture of everyday products in terms of reducing both the environmental impacts and improving internal business processes such as energy consumption, material usage, transportation costs, and end-of-product-life regeneration.   
 
Today, scientists and engineers can assess the environmental impact of a product. They know how most raw materials are produced, whether they were mined or synthetically made. They can reduce the number of chemicals that are bad (carcinogens, mutagens and reproductive toxins) to a minimum. They also know the distance over which they would have travelled to reach the manufacturing site, and the manufacturing processes using those materials to produce a given product. It is possible to establish the amount of energy consumed during manufacturing and what is required during the product’s service life. The environmental impact of the product at disposal can also be established. If one now multiplies the total environmental impact of that single item by the thousands, or even millions, of similar units on the market, this gives us an idea of the opportunity.
 
If a company’s scientists and engineers could reduce this total environmental impact by just 10 per cent, its effect on the business’s bottom line, not to mention its marketing potential, would be enough to enhance the company’s competitive position. Visionary companies have understood the opportunity and have embraced a sustainable product design strategy which incorporates environmental impact assessment.
 
Key to the environmental impact assessments are life cycle based approaches that consider the impact of products on the environment all the way through their lives, as opposed to purely what happens when they are made or disposed of.

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One methodology that is used is a cradle-to-grave analysis, in which materials are looked at when they are dug out of the ground or grown, transformed into products and then discarded at the ‘grave’ stage. This methodology is also better known as a life cycle assessment (LCA). It involves computing carbon footprint (the amount of CO2 equivalent emitted), total energy usage, air acidification impact, and water eutrophication (algae-promoting water contamination) profile. With this information, manufacturers can make product development decisions that leverage sustainability as a vehicle for business success.
 
Sustainability also enhances innovation. Companies are certainly striving to develop products that will perform well while in use and want to create new products that are unique in the market place. This objective remains, except that, this time, new products will be developed with the most efficient and cost effective manner. This can be achieved if this quality and performance are engineered right at the point of design.
 
Armed with the ability to assess environmental impacts to the product development process, chemists and engineers can use sustainable design as a strategy in order to reduce energy consumption during production and transportation, examine alternative materials less harmful to humans and nature, and that will be less costly over time. Sustainable products that are competitively priced will more effectively integrate into markets.
 
Sustainable or green products are increasing in popularity as evidence by the growth in green labelling initiatives, eco marketing, and bio based materials. Consumers are concerned with growing energy use, global warming and the long term built up of toxic materials. They want a product that is not only eco friendly, but with performance at the same cost, and better produced. This phenomenon is projected to grow, which in itself presents a valid reason for pursuing sustainable product design. But beyond the goodwill engendered by sustainability, it just makes good business sense from an operational standpoint.
 
According to an annual survey of 4,000 managers in 113 countries by the MIT Sloan Management Review and the Boston Consulting Group, the proportion of managers who say that ‘sustainability’ is key to competitive success has risen from 55% in 2010 to 67% last year.
 
To remain relevant in their own markets, manufacturers need to do more than look good. They need to consistently deliver by outperforming the competition. Sustainable product design is a strategy that can help them see the bottom line in an entirely new way. They will focus on waste prevention, what the green chemists call atomic economy, which is the reduction of waste at the polymer synthesis itself. They will use materials that promote efficient use. They will maximise energy efficiency in the production of the product, as well as any embedded energy in input materials such as oil, natural gas, or biomass. Finally, they will seek the use of renewable resources in the final products. Sustainable product design also makes them rethink their relations with suppliers.
 

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Dr Mosongo Moukwa is director of technology at PolyOne, USA, and was recently an independent consultant based in Chapel Hill, USA, and vice president - technology at Asian Paints Ltd, Mumbai, India. He is a member of the American Chemical Society and Product Development Management Association.
Email: mosongo@mosongomoukwa.com