Preventing pollution: redesigning and reformulating products

Analyzing your product's life cycle to either redesign or reformulate it to prevent pollution at any or all stages of the product’s life.

Questions to ask yourself

Is your product made of low-impact, non-hazardous, recycled or recyclable material?
Is it designed to be shipped cleanly and efficiently with minimal and recyclable packaging?
Is it designed to be as energy, fuel or water efficient as possible?
Can you increase the lifespan of your product by making it upgradeable, repairable or more durable?
Is your product easy to manage at the end of its life because it is reusable, recyclable, refurbishable or easy to dispose of?

The following examples come from Canadian companies that have reported to the National Pollutant Release Inventory:

a polystyrene foam product manufacturer increased the amount of recycled material in its products
a pulp, paper and paperboard mill reduced its usage of raw material by producing lighter weight papers
an aerospace product and parts manufacturing facility increased the amount of recyclable materials in its packaging
a soap and cleaning compound manufacturing facility reformulated some of its products to eliminate carcinogenic content