Eco-design practices with a focus on quantitative environmental targets: An exploratory content analysis within ICT sector

Highlights

• This paper explores use of content analysis in assessing eco-design practices.

• ICT sector's readiness for selected circular economy practices is evaluated.

• Quantitative environmental targets for products are not yet dominantly published.

• Lifecycle and durability thinking are linked with quantitative environmental targets.

• Remanufacture activities associated with quantitative environmental targets.

Abstract

Circular economy ambitions demand considering lifecycle of products within product development. From the perspective of the circular economy, environmental considerations should, for example, increasingly entail product's use phase not only to increase product's energy-efficiency, but also to prolong the time in use. This paper investigates how these considerations are addressed within information and communications technology (ICT) sector. Drawing from previous research in constructing the hypotheses, it is examined how companies report about their quantitative environmental targets for products, and what topical areas are in focus for their environmentally conscious practices related to products' reuse. Then, relationships with these published quantitative targets and environmental performance are assessed. Content analysis method is used to derive data from 43 sustainability reports. Our results suggest that being mature enough to publish quantitative environmental targets for products is positively associated with lifecycle thinking, considering the durability of products, and remanufacture. This exploratory study reveals among others, that although published, quantitative environmental targets for products are not yet dominantly present; they are positively associated with environmental performance measures. This includes capability to report quantitatively on flows of reclaimed products, and positions in external ranking. But, we also highlight the need for more discussion around reuse alternatives that are not commonly published among companies in this sample. The paper concludes by discussing the applicability of this research method.

Introduction

Increasingly unbalanced metabolism of our socioeconomic systems is creating a burden to natural environment at a planetary scale (Haas et al., 2015, Steffen et al., 2015). Globally recognized frameworks (Brundtland, 1987, United Nations, 2015) address its significance to humankind by seeking to build a shared understanding for guiding actions in more detail. For instance, circular economy debates in Europe seek to decouple the economic growth from the alarming state of degradation in natural resources by transforming the prevalent products' linear lifecycles into cyclical ones (European Commission, 2015a). Namely, circular economy concept advocates keeping products and materials in the cycle to retain their value-added longer.

Engagement with circular economy could be partly assessed with how companies consider it within their product development practices. Product development is understood as company's formal or informal multidisciplinary process that brings ideas to markets (Ulrich and Eppinger, 2012, p.14). When this process entails explicit environmental considerations along other considerations for the forthcoming product throughout its lifecycle, both the actual environmental considerations and their management is considered as representations of eco-design practices (International Organization for Standardization, 2011, Pigosso et al., 2013). For instance, possibilities to extend use phase of products is mostly determined within product development.

Intersection from planning to development is crucial in providing the ambitions, and commitments with potential target characteristics. If environmental considerations are left out from the early decision-making, likelihood to omit them may increase later. Therefore, a starting point to enhance product's potential for multiple lifecycles should occur in early product development phases where product's significant environmental fates are locked-in (McAloone et al., 1998, Simon et al., 2000). For instance, inclusion of metrics for environmental performance to these early phases is important, as their presence is assumed to indicate company's ability to actually measure and manage the performance (Haapala et al., 2013, Krishnan and Ulrich, 2001, Sroufe et al., 2000). To our knowledge, research is scarce in assessing the prevalence of quantitative environmental targets related to products apart from Bjørn et al. (2016) and Pascual et al. (2003).

To narrow down the scope, research objectives revolve around selected eco-design efforts. This paper uses public data to understand how mature and aware companies, within information communication technology (ICT) sector, are of selected terminology within circular economy sphere. More specifically, the prevalence of quantitative environmental targets for products is examined. Then, their relationships are assessed with

• Awareness of lifecycle, durability, and reuse options such as repair, refurbish, and remanufacture

• Environmental performance understood as a capability to report quantitatively on reclaimed product flows, and progress based on external ranking

The paper applies content analysis to examine aforementioned research objectives. Content analysis using sustainability reporting is emerging as a meaningful research method to assess companies' practices with the increase of more standardized reporting frameworks, such as Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), and their more prevalent use by companies (KPMG, 2015, Tangpong, 2011). But while abundant research exists on environmental management domain (see for reviews e.g. Fifka, 2013, Hahn and Kühnen, 2013), it seems that focus has been less often on eco-design practices. Hence, this paper explores this research gap acknowledging challenges noted by Boks and McAloone (2009), and aims to assess how useful the method is to examine companies' eco-design practices.

The paper contributes to the knowledge in various ways. First, inspired by research gaps raised also by Albino et al., 2009, Bjørn et al., 2016, and Laurenti et al. (2015), the paper focuses on ICT sector as one relevant sector instead of several sectors; and furthermore, it uses the circular economy perspective. This paper examines environmental performance outcomes instead of financial performance outcomes (cf. Montabon et al., 2007; Chen et al., 2015), and uses such performance as a proxy for environmental design capability (Lenox and Ehrenfeld, 1997). Namely, the paper investigates the relationship with selected eco-practices, and the capability to report on reclaimed product flows as one environmental performance measure. Furthermore, this paper explores the awareness of selected circular economy related terminology with research method seldom applied within discipline. This provides a fresh insight into actual implementation levels using sustainability reports as a data source. For instance, the paper extends from study by Pascual et al. (2003) by not only assessing the level of quantitative environmental targets for products, but also investigating their relationships with selected eco-design practices, and environmental performance.

The paper is organized as follows (Fig. 1). First, background summarizes studies with similar research method, and arguments for the sector selection. Next, hypotheses are formulated including discussion how ICT sector addresses circular economy. Then the paper continues with presenting the research methodology followed by results of content analysis. The paper ends with discussion and conclusions.