| 1. |
- Clancy, Gunilla, 1968, et al.
(författare)
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Comparing the sustainability of using a non-renewable oil based material in an absorbent hygiene product with that of using a renewable wood based material
- 2009
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Ingår i: Poster presentation at the Eforwood conference 'Shape your sustainability tools - and let your tools shape you', 23-24 September 2009, Uppsala, Sweden. ; , s. 2-3
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The WooDi project – the Wood based Diaper, is a research collaboration between industry and university. The goal of the project is to make a new diaper that is more sustainable than today’s product, by replacing non-renewable North Sea oil based materials in the diaper with a renewable material based on wood from the Nordic countries. This calls for a way to compare the sustainability associated with using the different raw materials.Comparisons of the implications of using crude oil and biomass resources have so far mainly been made for fuels used in transportation. The available literature assessing the use of fossil fuels versus bio-fuels focuses primarily on greenhouse gas emissions, often referred to as the carbon footprint [1]. It does not include, e.g., effects on ecosystem quality, employment, economy, etc. The increased use of bio-fuels for transportation is discussed in relation to food and feed grain prices, as well as negative environmental impacts arising from deforestation and land conversion, as food and fuel compete for scarce land resources [2, 3].Some life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) weighting methods include resource use, but are generally based on only one or a few parameters. One example is the monetary values used by the environmental priority strategies (EPS) method [4], which involves a weighting for renewable and non-renewable resources based on the cost of producing an equivalent from renewable resources.For forestry there are several voluntary sustainable forest management (SFM) systems, e.g., Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification and the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) scheme. Requirements within such systems include a broader set of aspects than greenhouse gas emissions or available LCIA weighting methods. The SFM laboratory [5] suggests eight different sustainability criteria such as the maintenance of ecosystem health and vitality; cultural, social and spiritual needs and values and maintenance of the forests’ contribution to global carbon cycles. No comparable sustainable management criteria have been found for fossil oil extraction and use, other than an initiative with recommendations on how to include biodiversity into strategies for oil and gas development [6].Consequently, there exists no readily available method for comparing the sustainability of using North Sea oil and Nordic wood as raw materials. The methods mentioned above can be a starting point but need to be developed further. The method development work carried out in the WooDi project should also be useful for other sustainability assessments comparing forest and fossil resources.References1. Johnson, E. Biofuel vs petrofuel carbon footprints: it’s about the land, in SETAC Europe 14th LCA Case Study Symposium. 2007. Göteborg.2. Early, J. and A. McKeown, Smart Choices for Biofuels. 2009, Sierra Club, Worldwatch Institute, Washington.3. Banse, M., P. Nowicki, and H.v. Meijl, Why are current world food prices so high? 2008, LEI Wageningen UR, Wageningen, The Netherlands.4. Steen, B., A systematic approach to environmental priority strategies in product development (EPS). Version 2000 - General System Characteristics, 1999.5. Sustainable forest management - indicator knowledge base. [cited 6th April 2009]. Available from: www.sfmindicators.org.6. Integrating Biodiversity Conservation into Oil & Gas Development, 2003.Acknowledgements Financial support from Vinnova, SCA Hygiene Products AB and Södra Cell AB is greatly appreciated.
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| 2. |
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| 3. |
- Alänge, Sverker, 1951, et al.
(författare)
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Naturalizing sustainability in product development: A comparative analysis of IKEA and SCA
- 2016
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Ingår i: Journal of Cleaner Production. - : Elsevier BV. - 0959-6526. ; 135, s. 1009-1022
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The aim is to analyse ways that sustainability can be successfully integrated into product development in large firms. This is done by a comparative study of two large firms, IKEA and SCA, during the time period 1990–2006. These were both among the pioneers to introduce sustainability into operations. The study is based on 24 interviews and one author’s experience as an insider researcher. The analytical framework visualizes the relationships between what is explicitly expressed, in writing or speech, and what tacitly guides behaviour, and what is actually practised in product development. Although both firms have substantial experience working with sustainability and are role models, they chose very different strategies to integrate sustainability into product development. Their approaches reflect the logic of their company cultures and management systems. This indicates that sustainability practices must be adapted to fit the logic of a firm’s existing management system.
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| 4. |
- Clancy, Gunilla, 1968, et al.
(författare)
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Actionable knowledge to develop more sustainable products
- 2013
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Ingår i: 6th International Conference on Life Cycle Management, Göteborg, 25-28 August.
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Companies need to develop more sustainable products to fit into more sustainable future markets, and there is need for ways to guide towards and compare sustainability already early in material or product development. How this can be handled has been studied through action research in a material development project aiming to develop wood-based materials to replace petroleum-based materials while ensuring a more sustainable product. A specific focus was put on creating actionable knowledge to facilitate innovation towards more sustainable products by translating and integrating significant product sustainability characteristics into each team member’s specific area of expertise and everyday work. The insights are now used in different other on-going projects in a textile industry setting and in relation to companies’ management systems.
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| 5. |
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| 6. |
- Clancy, Gunilla, 1968, et al.
(författare)
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Approach to establish relevant sustainability assessment parameters in product development
- 2011
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Ingår i: Poster presentation at the Second Symposium on Industrial Ecology for Young Professionals, 11 June 2011, Berkeley, California.
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Since companies need to develop more sustainable products to stay in business in the long term, there is a demand for ways to assess and compare product sustainability already in product development. This is studied through action research performed within the “wood based diaper” material development project (WooDi) aiming to develop a wood based material to replace a petroleum based while ensuring a more sustainable product. Methods used so far evaluating environmental product development to a large extend is based on optimization of the present system (improving or replacing parts giving large impacts) or to some extent taking the future into account e.g. by consequential LCA studies. Such approaches will result in marginal improvements of the present situation, but don’t fully take advantage of truly innovative processes or the fact that a more sustainable future society might put very different demands on products compared to the strictest requirements of today. Based on what was found in relevant literature, most often lists of predetermined parameters are being used without critical reflection on their importance in light of the specific situation. There is a specific lack of parameters describing the sustainability impacts of a shift from fossil to biomass resources in a life cycle perspective, e.g. related to competition for resources. As a result, an approach for establishing relevant product sustainability parameters is presented, emphasising the need to bringing in the diverse knowledge and experiences of the product development team members as vital for a successful result. The parameters are intended to guide product development as well as to be a base for a sustainability comparison of a new product with a current product.
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| 7. |
- Clancy, Gunilla, 1968, et al.
(författare)
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Approach to establish relevant sustainability assessment parameters in product development
- 2011
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Ingår i: Poster presentation at the 6th International Conference on Industrial Ecology 'Science, Systems and Sustainablity' 7-10 June 2011, Berkeley, California.
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Since companies need to develop more sustainable products to stay in business in the long term, there is a demand for ways to assess and compare product sustainability already in product development. This is attended to in the WooDi research project which aims at developing a wood based material to replace a petroleum based one in an incontinence diaper while ensuring a more sustainable product. Acknowledging the vast number of choices made in product development and their potentially large effect on the sustainability impact of the resulting product leads to the conclusion that assessment of product sustainability should be made throughout the process and be used to guide development. To gain a deeper understanding of the requirements and barriers in assessing product sustainability and guiding product development towards a more sustainable product, several workshops and seminars were carried out in the WooDi project, in parallel to literature surveys. Based on what was found in relevant literature, most often lists of predetermined parameters are being used without critical reflection on their importance in light of the specific situation. Additionally there is a lack of parameters describing the sustainability impacts of a shift from fossil to biomass resources in a life cycle perspective, e.g. related to competition for resources. As a result, an approach was developed for establishing relevant product sustainability parameters, where the parameters are intended to guide product development as well as to be a base for a sustainability comparison of a new product with a current product. It starts with defining what ‘sustainable product’ is in the specific case.This approach emphasises the need of bringing in the product development team members’ diverse knowledge and experiences as vital for a successful result. Practical experience of using the proposed framework throughout a project is still needed for evaluating it and identifying its limits.The presentation reports on the developed approach and on efforts to define what should be meant by ‘sustainable product’ in the specific case.
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| 8. |
- Clancy, Gunilla, 1968, et al.
(författare)
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Assessing sustainability already in product development
- 2011
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Ingår i: Poster presentation at The Adlerbert Research Foundation Jubilee Conference, 22 November 2011, Göteborg, Sweden. ; , s. 1-
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Since companies need to develop more sustainable products to stay in business in the long term, there is a demand for ways to assess and compare product sustainability already in product development. This is studied through action research performed within the “wood based diaper” material development project (WooDi) aiming to develop a wood based material to replace a petroleum based while ensuring a more sustainable product. Approaches for environmental improvement in product development focus primarily on optimisation of the existing product system, e.g. on replacing parts or processes representing large environmental impacts. In some cases, broader system effects and effects of a changing surrounding system is taken into account e.g. by consequential LCA studies. Such approaches will result in marginal improvements compared to the present situation, and cannot fully take advantage of truly innovative ideas that are based on completely different solutions or the fact that a more sustainable future society might put very different demands on products compared to the strictest environmental requirements of today. Based on what was found in relevant literature, most often lists of predetermined parameters are being used without critical reflection on their importance in light of the specific situation. There is a specific lack of parameters describing the sustainability impacts of a shift from fossil to biomass resources in a life cycle perspective, e.g. related to competition for resources. As a result, an approach for establishing relevant product sustainability parameters is presented, emphasising the need to bringing in the diverse knowledge and experiences of the product development team members as vital for a successful result. The parameters are intended to guide product development as well as to be a base for a sustainability comparison of a new product with a current product.
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| 9. |
- Clancy, Gunilla, 1968
(författare)
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Assessing Sustainability and Guiding Development towards More Sustainable Products
- 2014
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Companies need to develop more sustainable products that fit into future more sustainable markets. For this reason, the integration of sustainability considerations is needed in the early stages of product development, where a major part of the sustainability performance of a final product is determined. The aim of the research presented in this doctoral thesis is to better understand both enablers and obstacles in developing sustainable products.This research is based on three empirical studies. In the first study participatory action research was applied in a material research project aiming at developing wood-based materials to replace petroleum-based materials, while ensuring a more sustainable product. A specific focus was on how to facilitate action towards more sustainable products by visualising what affects a product’s sustainability. The insights from the first study were applied to the second study, an investigation of the connection between ecolabels and clothing design at three Swedish clothing companies. The research revealed a weak connection, because present ecolabel criteria mainly focus on considerations at the production stage.During the above-mentioned studies it became increasingly apparent that the business organisation has an important influence on companies’ ability to develop more sustainable products. A third study examined two companies to attain a better understanding of how company management systems affect work practices regarding sustainability in product development.The research revealed that technical knowledge on products, production and sustainability is a necessary condition, but by itself not sufficient to drive development of more sustainable products; action competence in a broader sense is needed. For a company or organisation to achieve action competence, collaboration and team learning are necessary, since many different skills must be utilised.
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| 10. |
- Clancy, Gunilla, 1968
(författare)
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Case IKEA: A small percentage with big impact
- 2010
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Ingår i: Sustainable Business Development: An anthology about realizing ideas - beta version Sverker Alänge and Mats Lundqvist (eds.). ; , s. 172-176
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Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)
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