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Customer Requirements / Market Demands



The large multinational companies were among the first to work with environmental issues, partly caused by severe environmental disasters (e.g. Seveso in Italy, Exxon Valdez in Alaska, Sandoz in Switzerland, Bhopal in India), and the enormous losses of money and goodwill.

And when the large companies start to make environmental demands on themselves, e.g. in the form of environmental management systems, it becomes necessary also to make demands on their suppliers to follow the same rules.

One of the first requirements in business-to-business trade and public procurement is a documented environmental management system.

The following is an extract of some of the requirements of Ericsson AB:


"Ericsson Requirements on Suppliers and Contractors":

  • The Supplier shall have an EMS according to ISO 14001, or equivalent, or a plan for implementation.

  • The Supplier shall document significant environmental aspects.

  • The Supplier shall consider environmental impact when selecting materials or new design solutions.

  • The Supplier shall not from cradle to the Ericsson gate use sub-stances banned by Ericsson.

  • The Supplier shall provide a plan for how delivered material shall be treated at end of life (EoLT).

  • The Supplier shall take back all types of hazardous products or hazardous parts of products when Ericsson so requires.



Eco-Labels

In order to make the consumer aware of the differences in environmental performance between products from different manufacturers, and to give preference to environmentally preferable products, the use of Eco-Labelling is being promoted by the authorities.

It can be foreseen, that eco-labelled products will be given preference in public procurement, reduced VAT is being discussed as another way of promoting these products.

In the table below is summarised the characteristics of 5 commonly seen labels:



Label

Symbol

Characteristics

The Swan
  • The Nordic Eco-label
  • Uses the life-cycle aspect when evaluating products
  • Focuses on low content of environmentally harmful substances, and low impact on the environment compared to other products in the same group
  • Producer should be prepared to take back end-of-life products, and improve recycling and minimize waste

The Flower
  • EU's Eco-labelling scheme
  • Uses the life-cycle aspect when evaluating products
  • Products should fulfil EU's requirements concerning health, safety and environment

Blauer Engel
  • German Eco-label for products and services
  • Focuses on low environmental impact during the life-cycle compared to other products with same function, without significantly reducing their fitness for use and impairing their safety

Energy Star
  • USA's Environmental Protection Agency's energy labelling scheme
  • Focus is only on energy use during use
  • Requirements are specific concerning implementation of power-down / stand-by / sleep modes
  • Agreement with EU to promote products in EU carrying the Energy Star label

GEA-VIA Label
  • European energy labelling scheme, coordinated by the organization "Group of Efficient Appliances", GEA
  • GEA is "a forum of representatives from National Energy Agencies and Governments working with Industry on Voluntary Informative Activities in the field of Energy Efficient Home Electronics"
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