Consumer products and the environment
Action to improve the sustainability of key products, services and materials could significantly reduce their associated environmental impacts. All products and services cause environmental impacts throughout their life cycle (from raw materials to end of life). Impacts are wide-ranging and include greenhouse gas emissions, pollution, and waste. Materials used in products and services are also important as they are resources which are being depleted and can create waste and pollution.
Progress Report on Sustainable Products and Materials (10 July 2008)
Defra has published a report setting out the Government’s story on sustainable products and materials. It is a progress report, and so describes what has been done and work which is already planned.
It includes a number of suggestions on the way forward, as well as questions for discussion. We want to stimulate debate about how Government and business can work together to reduce the impacts of products and materials across their whole lifecycle.
We want to hear people’s views, which we will gather and use them to inform discussions with stakeholders on the way forward. Send your views to products.policy@defra.gsi.gov.uk
Latest news
Action to improve products, services and materials
Government is taking action to identify, understand and address the environmental impacts arising from products, services, and materials consumed and used in the UK. Defra, alongside BERR, is at the forefront of this work, which falls within its strategic priority of Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP), and is taking it forward through several work strands, including:
- Developing product and service roadmaps
- Measuring the embodied greenhouse gas emissions in products and services
- Materials
- SCP Evidence Base Programme
Priority products and services
There are several international, EU and UK sources providing evidence on the environmental impacts of products and an increasing consensus that specific product areas and services, including food and drink, buildings, transport, energy-using products, tourism, and clothing, generate most of the overall impact on the environment at both a domestic and international level. Defra is undertaking a 'road mapping' process, targeting ten prority products to identify their environmental impacts and develop interventions to address them.
- The environmental impact of products - May 2006 (PDF 3 MB)
- Priority products environmental impacts - road mapping
Measuring the embodied greenhouse gas emissions in products and services
Defra and the Carbon Trust are co-sponsoring the British Standards Institute (BSI) to develop a Publicly Available Specification (PAS) for the measurement of embodied greenhouse gases (GHGs) in products and services. This work will:
- provide an agreed method that can be applied across a wide range of products and services and their supply chains
- enable companies to measure the GHG-related impacts and reduce them
- describe a consistent and comparable approach to supply chain measurement of GHGs across markets
- assist in defining an internationally agreed standard
- Progress to date:
Materials
How materials are used to make products raises wide ranging issues including environmental and social impacts associated with extraction, processing, use and disposal. A growing number of raw materials are nearing environmental limits or are difficult to access and innovation is creating new types of material whose properties and impacts need to be assessed. Materials are chosen for products for a variety of reasons such as their appearance, physical properties (weight, strength, malleability) and availability, as well as cost. A product-based approach enables these functional benefits and challenges to be considered alongside environmental implications.
The Waste Strategy for England sets out seven priority waste materials where action should be targeted to increase resource efficiency. These are: textiles, plastics, paper/card, glass, wood, aluminium, and food and garden waste. The priority waste materials were identified on potential reductions of greenhouse gas emissions resulting from diversion from landfill and increased recycling and recovery. An update on progress in meeting the commitments can be found in the Progress Report on Sustainable Products and Materials.
- Waste Strategy for England [Link to their report when it is published]
SCP Evidence Base Programme
The SCP Evidence Base Programme underpins Defra’s products, services and materials work and generates sound science to inform the roadmaps. The roadmaps are directly linked to a range of exiting delivery programmes and broader EU and international SCP activities.
Further information
- Advisory Committee on Consumer Products and the Environment: final report and recommendations
- Further information: Food Chain Programm
See also
- Directgov - Greener shopping
- Sustainable Development Unit
- Sustainable Development Commission
- Food Standards Agency
- Energy Saving Trust
- Carbon Trust
Contact
For further information about any aspect of product policy or the roadmaps - contact us
Page last modified: 15 July 2008