Eco-Design and Ecological Transition

Introduction

The ability of companies to lead a transition to a more sustainable and environmentally friendly economy is an increasingly important issue for our society. The launch of the Green Pact for Europe by the European Commission in 2019 is symptomatic: the announced objective is a climate-neutral Europe with, in particular, the end of greenhouse gas emissions, a growth based on a “clean and circular” economy and actions to fight against biodiversity loss. In France, the 2015 law on the energy transition for green growth mentions the terms transition and sufficiency.

Although there is a lot of talk about companies’ commitments to sustainable development and green or ecological products, production, consumption and pollution are still increasing. In Europe, for example, the total volume of waste increased by 14% between 2004 and 2018 according to Eurostat data (2022)¹, while over the same period the European population increased by 2.9%. Similarly, according to “The Global E-waste Monitor” report, published in partnership with the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), e-waste is expected to increase from 53.6 million tons in 2019 to 74 million tons in 2030, an expected increase of 38%! According to the same report, the collection and recycling rate is only 17.4% to date.

The ecological transition is still far off or in its infancy. It requires companies to adapt their strategies. At the heart of our economic model, they are in close contact with ...