Clever ideas on Low Carbon Economy.com – but will manufacturers act?
Household products could save 8m worth of carbon with simple redesign
15/03/2010 09:18:02
Manufacturers could save around eight million tonnes of carbon each year through using better eco-design principles, according to a newly-published eight-year study into the carbon footprints of over 2,000 consumer products.
Testing and certification specialist Bureau Veritas found that manufacturers could substantially reduce the emissions from five staple household products the kettle, mobile phone, fridge, laptop – by simply modifying the production process and taking on better ‘eco-design’ principles.
It calculated up to 60 percent of a company’s carbon footprint could be cut by addressing the environmental impact of the supply chain and production method.
Xavier Vital of Bureau Veritas said: “While consumers are making huge efforts to recycle and buy responsibly, many companies are still making and selling products that could easily have their environmental impact reduced considerably, but have yet to take the necessary steps to support the efforts of their customers.”
In addition, the specialist called for the inclusion of ‘embedded carbon’ into the government’s forthcoming Carbon Reduction Commitment, which will come into place on April 1st.
A recent study from researchers at the Carnegie Institute of Science found that the EU is ‘exporting’ as much as a third of its carbon emissions from the consumption of goods to developing countries, such as India and China.
http://tinyurl.com/co7jqq
