| IPP
Background
The term "Integrated
Product Policy (IPP)" was first coined in the SPRU and Ernst and Young
report published in 1998. It is the term given to the European Commission's
(EC) initiative for a product-oriented environmental policy. The purpose
of the EC initiative is to harmonise environmental product policy (EPP)
approaches currently developing at the European Union (EU) Member State
level. The initiative is still in its infancy and its full scope is yet
to be determined.
This page gives some
brief background details about the IPP initiative, including the key milestones
in its development, some working definitions, and a list of some of the
government policy tools that may make up an IPP toolbox.
For more detailed
information on IPP and its relationship to eco-product development (EPD),
please see IPP-EPD Discussion
Papers and IPP Related
Links.
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| Key
milestones
The following key
milestones in the development of IPP can be highlighted:
The chronology of IPP
developments
- 1987:
The Bruntdland report ‘Our common future’ was published, introducing
sustainability as a principle of environmental policy.
- 1987: Creation
of the French prize ‘Ecoproduit’ [Eco-product], rewarding environmentally
more benign products
- 1992: The
5th European Environmental Action Programme (EAP) was published.
Although it does not explicitly mention product-oriented environmental
policy, numerous references are made to instruments and measures
which are considered to be IPP measures.
- 1992: Rio
de Janeiro, Agenda 21 stresses the importance of a change in production
and consumption patterns.
- 1993: Foundation
of ISO TC 207 ‘Environmental Management’ with subcommittees on
e.g. Environmental Management Systems, Life Cycle Assessment,
Environmental Labelling.
- 1993: Foundation
of the Swedish ‘Eco-cycle’ Commission, which delivered its final
report ‘A Strategy for Sustainable Materials and Products’ in
1997.
- 1993, Sept.
30-Oct 1: First international conference on ‘Green Goods’ in the
Hague, The Netherlands. This workshop was the start of a tradition
of conferences in the product policy field. Since 1993, in total
five ‘Green Goods’ conferences have taken place.
- 1994: Publication
of the ‘Policy document on Products and the Environment’ by the
Dutch Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment
(VROM).
- 1992-95:
Conceptual report ‘Product Policy in Europe: New Environmental
Perspectives’ by Oosterhuis et al. (Germany) and ‘Instituut voor
Milieuvraagstukken’ with support of DGXII within the ‘Environment
and Climate’ programme.
- 1995: The
OECD’s Pollution Prevention and Control Group started its activities
in the field of IPP, its important output includes the ‘Preliminary
results of (Sustainable) Product Policy Survey’.
- 1996: The
Finnish Ministry of Trade and Industry published a discussion
paper on ‘Production, Products and Consumption Patterns in Sustainable
Development’.
- 1997: Foundation
of a Nordic IPP group (consisting of representatives from Denmark,
Finland, Norway, Sweden and Iceland); an agreement on a
Nordic IPP document is anticipated at the beginning of 2000.
- 1997: ‘Common
position’ of the Council of the EU ‘Towards Sustainability’ listing
diverse product-related issues and supporting sustainable production
and consumption patterns.
- 1997: Adoption
by the Belgian federal State of the Law for the ‘Co-ordination
of the Federal Policy on sustainable development’. A first attempt
to manage classical policy approaches (from process to product)
in an integrated way.
- 1996-98
SPRU and Ernst and Young study on IPP, with the major report published
in March 1998.
- 1996: Publication
of a discussion paper ‘An intensified product-oriented environmental
initiative’ by the Danish Environmental Protection Agency. In
1997, the report ‘A product oriented environmental initiative’
was published.
- 1998: The
UK Department for the Environment, Transport and Regions (DETR)
published a consultation paper ‘Consumer products and the environment’.
- 1998: adoption
by the Belgian Federal State of the new Law on ‘Product Standards
aiming at the promotion of sustainable production and consumption
patterns to protect health and environment’.
- 1998, Dec
8. IPP workshop organised by DG Environment, Brussels, Belgium
with approximately 180 participants.
- 1999, May
7-9: Informal Meeting of Environmental Ministers, Weimar, Germany.
- 2000, Feb
1: IPP workshop jointly organised by the German Federal Ministry
for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU)
and the Federation of German Industries (BDI).
- 2000, Feb
9-10: second Nordic IPP workshop organised by the Nordic Council
of Ministers, presentation of the "Proposal for a Common Nordic
IPP."
- 2000,
May 25: Swedish
Government Communication to the Swedish Parliament entitled "A Strategy
for an Environmentally Sound Product Policy" (Swedish Ministry of
Environment).
- 2000, June
22: Statement on IPP by the European Consultative Forum on the
Environment and Sustainable Development.
- 2000, June
23: publication of "Developing the Foundation for Integrated Product
Policy in the EU" (Ernst & Young with SPRU for DG Environment).
- 2001, Feb
7: publication of "Green Paper on Integrated Product Policy"
(European Commission). (See Links
page to download the Green Paper).
- 2001, Mar
8-9, 2nd IPP workshop organised by DG Environment, Brussels, Belgium.
To discuss the IPP Green Paper.
Source:
Young, A. based on Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation
and Nuclear Safety, 1999. |
The next steps will
include:
Expected Future IPP
Developments:
- DG
Environment aims to collect comments on the Green Paper until
June 2001.
- DG
Environment is also interested in running several pilot projects
to look at various IPP aspects and instruments.
- Sweden
is responsible for the EU Presidency,
January-June
2001. IPP is a key element of the Swedish agenda.
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| Definitions
A number of definitions
have been developed for IPP:
Ernst and Young and
Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex, UK. EU, DG XI, March
1998.
Public
policy which explicitly aims to modify and improve the environmental performance
of product systems.
Background paper on
IPP for Informal Meeting of Environmental Ministers, May 1999, Weimar.
Public
policy which aims at or is suitable for continuous improvement in the
environmental performance of products and services within a life-cycle
context.
The Centre for Sustainable Design, July 1999.
Public
policy aiming at greening the marketplace through the integrated use of
supply and demand side tools.
The IPP Green Paper
from the European Commission (Feb 2001) does not give a definition for
IPP. However, their approach very much follows the Centre for Sustainable
Design definition.
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| Toolbox
The IPP toolbox aims
at incorporating both supply-side (e.g., eco-product development, environmental
management systems (EMS)) and demand-side (greener purchasing, eco-labels,
consumer education) measures. The use of a mix of different instruments,
dependent on different products and markets, is central to the IPP concept.
For example, without education and information campaigns to raise consumer
awareness, eco-labelling schemes will not function efficiently.
The following is
a list of possible supply- and demand-side instruments that could be utilised
in IPP:
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Supply-side
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Demand-side
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Prohibitions/phase
outs
(voluntary/regulatory) |
Consumer
information: |
| Product
performance requirements |
- eco-labels |
| Take
back |
- product profiles |
| Grants/subsidies
for eco-product development |
- product guidelines |
| Eco-design
competitions and/or awards |
- information centres |
Env.
management systems (EMS)/
Product-oriented environmental management systems (POEMS) |
Indirect
taxation |
| Standardisation |
Public
purchasing |
| Information
and reporting |
Deposit/refund
schemes |
| Voluntary
agreements |
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