Ecodesign in product and service development

It is important to begin ecodesign with detailed research to reveal which elements of your products could cause the greatest environmental impact, and how ecodesign could address these issues.

Key topics for ecodesign research

In your research, you should aim to:

• identify which materials and fixings are used in the products you want to design or redesign
• understand where you can make improvements in the manufacturing process
• find out how the products are packaged, stored and distributed
• find out how the products are used and what impacts they have on the environment
• establish what happens to the products at the end of their useful life

Your research should cover the ten key ecodesign considerations. For more details, see what is ecodesign.

You should also research packaging design at the same time as researching your products' design. This can help you to keep the packaging to a minimum and could even offer opportunities to reuse the packaging within the product once the customer receives it. See how to design packaging to reduce environmental impact.

Research best practice

Your business should follow a number of general principles to ensure thorough research and ecodesign. For example, you should:

• set realistic objectives and scope for your research
• use existing information, product records or specifications to carry out preliminary research
• dismantle your products to see how easy they would be to recycle
• measure your products' environmental performance and compare this with your ecodesign - see how to set environmental performance targets
• keep up to date with forthcoming legislation

Life cycle assessment (LCA)

This assessment looks at every aspect of your products and can enable your business to identify:

• areas where the greatest cost savings and environmental improvements can be made
• reductions in materials and energy used in your ecodesign
• which design components have resulted in increased market share and higher product quality

For more information, see how to carry out an environmental review of your business.