Managing eco design and sustainable manufacturing

Abstract

This paper studies the principles of eco-design and sustainable manufacturing and alternative strategies to change course towards sustainability and sustainable development by reviewing and evaluating the main drivers, barriers, benefits and risks involved such strategies and their implementation in UK manufacturing industry. This paper also examines the application of sustainable practices in manufacturing industry for eco design and sustainable manufacturing in the food and drink sector. A questionnaire based survey was conducted with 258 manufacturers in the UK to examine the business case for eco design and sustainable manufacturing in terms of the drives, barriers, advantages and risks associated with the move towards sustainability and sustainable development and the business case for implementing sustainability strategies. In terms of the findings, compliance with regulations and risks reduction were the most important drivers and benefits amongst the manufacturing companies as a whole. The survey results also showed that the main barriers faced by the overall manufacturing industry were most importantly high implementation costs, followed by weak justification for investment and lack of stakeholder and customer awareness. On the other hand, concerning the findings of food and drink sector, there is more regard and consideration for the regulation compliance in this sector compared to the rest of the manufacturing areas, also, there is a higher legal and financial risk in the business environment for this particular sector; in addition, market opportunities is considered one of the most important drivers for the food and drink sector.