Eco-design approaches for businesses

Eco-design is one of the initiatives launched in the second half of the 20th century by companies to better control the use of their resources and their impact on the environment. It is widely accepted that 80% of a product's environmental impact is determined at the design stage. Implemented right from the design phase, eco-design is a preventive approach that helps reduce the environmental impact of products, services and production processes at every stage of their life cycle. Thanks to this "life-cycle" approach, eco-design opens companies up to a circular vision that goes beyond the classic, linear "supply-production-use-end-of-life" vision, and offers a solution for decoupling economic growth and environmental degradation. Eco-design has been identified as one of the levers available to companies to combat climate change and, more broadly, limit the environmental impact of their products, services or processes. This approach also directly addresses one of the 17 challenges of the UN Agenda 2030 sustainable development goals: "Establish sustainable consumption and production patterns". More and more companies are initiating eco-design initiatives. In addition to presenting what eco-design is, this article will look at the various reasons why companies are interested in this approach, and how to deploy an eco-design project (key success factors, points to watch out for, players, methods, tools, resources, etc.).