7.1 Introduction

It is now widely recognised that industry should reduce the environmental impact of its activities. The most advanced companies are moving beyond the compliance mentality and being proactive in shaping future markets, consumer needs and influencing legislative developments. They see environment as an opportunity rather than a threat, recognise that prevention is better than cure and are attempting to design out rather than simply manage the problems.

Sustainable development was first publicised by the Brundtland report in 1987 [1] as being:

... development that meets the needs of the present without jeopardising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. [1]

Ecodesign is one strategy being used to move towards a more sustainable future, understood to be, the systematic integration of environmental considerations into the design process across the product life cycle, from cradle to grave (manufacture to disposal) [2, 3, 4]. There are various internal and external influences driving organisations towards implementing ecodesign, these are:

• Cost savings: integrating environmental issues into product development can result in cost savings such as less raw materials used, less waste produced, energy efficiency and water efficiency.

• Legislative regulations: these are becoming more and more important to companies as they are increasing in both the country in which they operate and to which they export.

• Competition: pioneering companies have realised that they may gain some competitive advantage by considering ecodesign.

• Market pressure: Ecodesign can be an effective way to improve an organisation s...