Abstract
Public regulations can result in improved environmental performance of products. In this paper eco-efficiency is used to assess the most likely outcome of potential new regulations. The paper presents a case study of furniture production in Norway where different scenarios for improving the environmental performance of the products are presented. Four regulatory options for imposing environmental improvements are assessed; (1) an introduction of a tax on emissions, (2) an increase of the tax on landfills, (3) an introduction of a tax on raw material consumption, and (4) introduction of take-back legislation.
Highlights
A range of concepts and ideas are introduced to enable sustainable development and eco-efficiency is by many seen as a central idea [1,2]
Eco-efficiency is seen both as a concept and as a tool where the basic idea is to produce more with less impact on nature, measured as reduced emissions or reduced raw material consumption, or both [3,4]
Different scenarios for improvements in environmental performance are presented and the economic consequences of these for the manufacturer and/or customer are analysed. This is combined with possible new regulation where the potential for initiating environmental improvements as a consequence is explored
Summary
A range of concepts and ideas are introduced to enable sustainable development and eco-efficiency is by many seen as a central idea [1,2]. In addition to encouraging more efficient use of resources, two distinct areas for eco-efficiency assessments can be identified; as a tool to measure performance at a system level (process, product, company etc.), and as a tool to Sustainability 2010, 2 compare different alternatives (benchmarking). In both situations the underlying motivation is to improve business performance. Different scenarios for improvements in environmental performance are presented and the economic consequences of these for the manufacturer and/or customer are analysed This is combined with possible new regulation where the potential for initiating environmental improvements as a consequence is explored
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