Ecodesign: Analysis of incentives and barriers

Details

Supervisors

Bréchet, Thierry ; Eyckmans, Johan

Faculty

Louvain School of Management

Degree label

Master [120] en Ingénieur de gestion

Abstract

What pushes and prevents companies from adopting ecodesign approaches? With this research question, the aim of this master thesis is to highlight why companies decide to get started with ecodesign or why they do not. Starting with definitions of the relevant concepts, the first part will highlight what ecodesign is. This first chapter will allow demonstrating that ecodesign is not a turnkey solution. Also, the method that can be applied (LCA) will be briefly analyzed and the possible alternatives criticized. The second part will focus on the core: the incentives and the barriers. Based on the literature, one will divide incentives in external and internal ones. On the external side, legislation, risk reduction, consumer demand, improved image and reputation, and improved relations with stakeholders are the main incentives that will be analyzed. On the internal side, conviction, competitiveness, opportunities for innovation, and technology push are the most important factors. Concerning barriers, informational shortcomings, financial barriers, organizational inertia, company and product specificities, legislation, the difficulty of identifying and managing the environmental impacts as well as the current economic model and mindset constitute brakes to the adoption of ecodesign approaches. Finally, the third part will go deeper by focusing on information gathered from field players. Depending on the size, sector and nature of the company, the incentives and barriers to which it is confronted inevitably vary, for this reason it was chosen to focus on the macro view. To do so, a member of Greenfish and a member of Climact, both consultancy companies, were interviewed. Plus, to add even more value to the coming results, three other organizations were considered: the UCM which has an ecodesign department subsidized by the IBGE; the OVAM which is a governmental agency involved in ecodesign; and Celabor which is a research center that namely performs LCAs. From what has been found out through the interviews, this work will demonstrate that the most important factors driving and preventing companies from engaging into ecodesign are the following: financial aspect, legislative aspect, marketing and consumer demand, innovation, technological aspect, conviction, knowledge and expertise, and finally, the current functioning of the organization. For some of these aspects, some grey area subsists in the sense that they can positively or negatively influence the adoption of ecodesign approaches. None of the incentives seems to be strong enough to somehow force the adoption of ecodesign approaches. Thus, an important room for improvement still remains. Namely, from a legislative point of view, incentives are insufficient and solutions should be found to improve incentives for SMEs and integrate environmental costs.