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Do you have difficulties filtering information about sustainability and making sense of it? Have you experienced increased complexity and ambiguity as a result of pursuing sustainable development?
There are at present two major external factors that affect organizations: Global challenges and sustainable development (Virakul & Russ-Eft, 2019). By now, most people are familiar with or have at least heard about, the UN 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals. These goals are currently being incorporated into national and business policies and strategies worldwide. The EU has launched several important plans and directives to facilitate and ensure a European sustainable development, such as A new Circular Economy Action Plan For a cleaner and more competitive Europe (2020) and A European strategy for plastics in a Circular Economy (2018). Sweden has initiated the ambitious goal of becoming one of the first fossil-free welfare countries in the world (Fossilfritt Sverige, 2019), and recently launched a strategy for the transformation to a circular economy (Swedish Government, 2020). Furthermore, the IPCC report Global Warming of 1,5 degrees Celsius (2018), caught the public awareness and ignited environmental movements, like the famous Fridays for future led by Greta Thunberg.
Businesses need to adapt to this global movement, otherwise, they risk being outperformed by more innovative companies that can embrace and transform sustainability challenges into business opportunities. The question is how? As Alblas et al. (2014) point out, it is a challenge to even understand the concept:
``The complexity and fuzziness of sustainability as a concept complicate identifying a suitable scope and appropriate targets. For instance, should a company focus on recycling, on energy efficiency, on using biodegradable materials, or on all three options?``
The answer is that organizations first need to understand what sustainability means for their business and products (Alblas et al., 2014).
Knightec facilitates a transition towards sustainable and circular product development, by analyzing how sustainability factors such as energy, resources, materials, product design, organization, and the supply chain, affect your business case. Our knowledge in Life Cycle Assessment, Material selection, Producibility, Manufacturing, Simulation, and Creative concept design enables us to identify gaps, risks, and costs, which are necessary inputs to define a clear scope and concrete sustainability targets for each organization.
Here is an example; The first analysis might show that to reduce your climate impact, the target should be to minimize the number of virgin materials used in your primary product packaging. This opportunity is further investigated through a material selection analysis, where mechanical properties of material alternatives are tested to meet various requirements. A creative concept design results in a packaging solution with a 30% decrease in CO2 emissions during its life cycle. To meet the EU 2030 targets, it has also been made 100% recyclable. By going through this process, the company has increased its competitiveness and future-proofed its existence.
Madelene Wiil is an Advisor in Sustainability and Circular Design at Knightec with a MSc in Sustainable Development.
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In our customer projects, sustainability is an increasingly important factor. In several projects today, we drive the development towards more sustainable products or processes. Up to 80% of a product's climate impact can be determined already in the design phase, which gives us a great opportunity to influence.
Read moreIn January 2018 the European Commission accepted a strategy (1) for plastic material, according to the EU:s action plan for a circular economy. According to the plan, all plastic packaging on the European market will be recyclable by 2030.
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