Durable products designed with sustainability considerations, or ecodesigned, offer many advantages both to the company and the environment. Ecodesign takes into account the full life-cycle of products, from conception to design and development, to construction, packaging and end-of-life considerations including reuse, reparation and/or recycling. 

Significant savings can be achieved in raw materials, pre-products, operating resources and additives, as well as in water and energy use. The following aspects are key for resource-efficient products:

Fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) are typically used by households quickly after purchase or at least under one year. This includes packaged foods, cleaning supplies, light bulbs, but also cosmetics and personal hygiene items.

Back on track

• Freight companies band together to rejenuvenate regional rail network as viable alternative to struggling road transport 
• Action leads to vastly reduced CO2 and a 66 % average saving on journey times

The Carpathia region in the Czech Republic was struggling with increasing road transportation (up 250 % between 1997 and 2002) resulting from economic development. At the same time, the rail system was under pressure due to shrinking shipment sizes and lead times.

Orchestrated transport, an efficient symphony

Good monitoring and management are vital to reigning in energy costs and carbon emissions. Measuring and tracking resource use (energy, water and raw materials) is a key skill that all organisations should master, regardless of size or sector. It can help to identify patterns of wasteful behaviour and opportunities to improve environmental performance and save money.

Purge ends in 5 minutes!

• German company shows how to reduce water use through optimised cleaning-in-place technique 
• Shorter purge cycle reduces water consumption by 12 %, saving about € 10 600 per annum

Beverage production is a very water-intensive industry, both as an ingredient and in cleaning. Improvements and innovations along the production line could save enormous quantities of water, help to bring production costs down, and mitigate the environmental impact of the sector.

Make the most of what you have

Trends like online shopping, just-in-time production and delivery, and increasing warehouse costs are forcing logistics operators to deliver more frequently, which often means under-capacity loading. At the same time, fuel and vehicle costs are going up and consumers are conscious of the environmental impact of the products they buy. Logistics pooling can help companies to maximise loads and minimise the number of trips and distance travelled, resulting in lower overall transport (fuel, maintenance) and personnel costs.

Companies can generate energy for their own use and improve their overall energy efficiency by modernising existing equipment.

Simple measures like replacing old boilers with new ones can increase their efficiency by up to 15 %. The highest energy savings can be achieved in cases when companies retrofit old boilers (e.g. coal or oil-fired units) to run on more efficient natural gas or other alternative fuels.

Out with the old and in with the new...

•  Measures costing € 360 000 lower energy consumption and save some € 50 000 annually
•  Infrared heaters in production area reduce related energy consumption by at least 10 %

UNICORN-ESK in Slovakia is a mechanical engineering firm specialising in welded and machined parts. As an energy-intenstive sector, management explored ways to modernise its heat production, distribution, and related energy use across the property.