Analysis of product sustainability on the basis of sustainability criteria

Executive Summary

The study analyzes the design criteria for any product to be sustainable. Two sustainable

cleaners will be used for the comparative study of all the factors that contribute to making a

product sustainable. It will then continue to come up with a few ways through which the

organizations can try to promote the sustainability of the products in the future. The

impacts of the various stages of the product from production to afterlife will be considered

to analyze the sustainability impacts of the product on the workers, consumers, society and

the environment.

Introduction

Sustainable development is one of the prime importance of the present times, especially if

we want to protect the earth from overexploitation and depleting it of all the resources

(Charter & Tischner 2017). Designing a product with a sustainable approach ensures that

our future generations are not deprived of any of the natural benefits of earth and also that

we do not pose too much pressure on the environmental conditions of mother earth.

As opined by Schöggl, Baumgartner & Hofer (2017), there are a lot of benefits that an

organization can enjoy when they opt for adopting the sustainable design of any product.

The benefits are not monetary but come with a lot of social values as well. But it is only

possible when care is taken to meeting the sustainability criteria set for any product.

Meeting these criteria confirms that the impacts on the environment are minimal and the

entire process of the product (from production to afterlife) does not bring any harmful

impacts on the workers or the consumers (Petrillo et. al. 2016). Two products will be taken
into consideration for assessing the sustainability of products in the present market. The

products include Plant Soap by Auro and Wood Cleaner by Seventh Generation.

Figure 1: Auro Plant Soap Figure 2: Seventh Generation Wood Cleaner

While the Plant Soap can be used for cleaning paint rollers and brushes, the Wood Cleaner

can be just sprayed on any surface. The surface can they be wiped off using a dry cloth or

soft texture for a bright glow.

Product analysis of sustainability criteria

There are certain criteria that must be met by the products to ensure that they are built

with a sustainable design (Ciambrone 2018). The above mentioned two products are no

exceptions either. For this reason, the study explores both the products on the basis of the

standard sustainability criteria set for the market. This will be helpful in deriving the

decisions on how sustainable the products are for our future use.
 1. Resource Base

As stated by Jabbour & de Sousa Jabbour (2016), one of the biggest contributors to the

profile of overall sustainability of any product is the resource base that makes provision of

the primary materials that are used to make the item. It also includes the management of

the resources, protection, and conservation of the bases for future use. If we take a look at

the ingredients of the two products, we can see that most of them are natural or plant

derivatives and often have a common origin.

The main ingredients that promote the sustainable design of Auro Plant soap include linseed

oil, eucalyptus oil, alcohol, water, vinegar, and citrate. The main ingredients of Seventh

Generation’s Wood Cleaner include sodium citrate, decyl glucoside, Laureth-6, and a few

other plant-derived ingredients. If we compare the product list, the resource base for the

Plant Soap is much simpler and thus making it much sustainable.

2. Life cycle assessments

It mainly takes into consideration the quantification of chosen groups of categories that

impact the flow of resources throughout the system of the product. The standards of ISO

have come up for assessing the life cycle of products through a varied quantity of data,

methods, and tools to be used for measuring the impacts of the life cycle (Bringezu &

Bleischwitz 2017). Research studies have come up with facts assessment of the product life

cycle can help in the understanding the significant impacts of the product on the global

scale, mainly through the emission of greenhouse gases during the production, the

consumption of renewable and non-renewable sources of energy during the process, and

the generation of overall wastes. Both the companies have been focused on reducing the
impacts on the environment – both during its production phase as well as its phase of

maximum usage. This has a lot of benefits for the products to reduce impacts on climatic

changes and promote the sustainability of the product.

3. Risks of hazardous substances

The hazardous substances are needed to be eliminated from the products to make it more

sustainable (Giannakis & Papadopoulos 2016). This step is thus necessary to be dealt with in

the designing phase of the product. While no hazardous content is used in either of the

products, Auro Plant Soap is free of any synthetic products as well. While most of the

components of the Wood Cleaner product are derived from plants, it uses a synthetic

preservative to promote the product longevity. But there is no incorporation of any directly

hazardous or any substance that is potentially hazardous. Proper care is taken that neither

the workers nor the customers are exposed to any substance that can be hazardous to their

health. It also includes the release of hazardous elements into the environment and

managing the same to reduce the impacts. As opined by Byrka et. al. (2016), the main key

for the organizations is to safely recover any substance that is potential hazards and refrain

it from being used in the production system.

4. Socio-economic factors

Issues belonging to a diverse range fall into this category and is widely incorporated along

the product’s value chain. This might typically include anything to everything ranging

between the treatment of the workers, labor-related issues, revenue allocation, upstream

resource distribution among the industry, profit distribution among the partners of the

supply chain. It also takes care to confirm that no conflict material, child labor or other
ethical issues are met during the production phase of the lifecycle (Rosca, Arnold & Bendul

2017). This is ideally important especially in the determination of the key impacts of the

products on the social and economic scales and how they can benefit the progress. It also

includes the product meets all the appropriate standards as agreed by the code of conducts.

This, in addition to the impacts of the product life cycle, must be considered throughout the

system of the product (from the extraction of the resources during the production process

to the life in the market till its next life) for efficient evaluation. Both the companies being

equally bent over the aim of developing sustainable products are dedicated to maintaining

all of the factors.

5. Total ownership cost

It is often the case that the production cost built is often overlooked. But the sustainability

of any product can vary depending on the total cost of ownership of the product. As stated

by Bonetti, Perona & Saccani (2016) it includes the true cost that the product owner or

purchaser will be considering on an overall basis. This includes a wide range of costs divided

into categories including disposal of wastes, loss of products, safety and health issues of

workers, requirements of protective equipment and many other expenses. The costs

involved in the lifecycle of the Plant Soap or the Wood Cleaner is all about the real cost of

the products and may often be neglected as they are external or free. This may include the

emission of any harmful particles in the environment or the use of free resources such as

water or other natural resources. While they may appear to be free, they incur societal costs

in some form or the other.

Table 1: Comparison of Auro Plant Soap vs. Seventh Generation Wood Cleaner
 Auro Plant Soap Seventh Generation – Wood

Cleaner

Resource base Totally natural ingredients Simple plant-based

used derivative or basic synthetic

components

Lifecycle assessments Simple and sustainable Minimal impacts on

environment

Hazardous substance No hazardous material used Natural derivatives from

in the production process plant-based ingredients or

simple synthetic materials

Socio-economic factors Extremely cautious about Careful to reduce or

maintaining the standards of obliterate the harmful socio-

both social and economic economic impacts and

factors promote the values of

sustainability

Total ownership costs Minimal costs involved due Most of the resources being

to the simplicity of the plant-derivative, the total

ingredients and production ownership costs are well

process distributed to indirect bases.

The usage of technology based on the performance can be another criterion for the

evaluation of the products’ sustainability. For the product to be sustainable, it must

accommodate the purpose and meet the preset quality standards. The 3R factor
(reusability, recyclability and remanufacturing efficiency) can also play major roles in

determining the sustainability of the product. Aesthetics and obsolesce are also important

issues in certain cases.

Recommendations

The best way to promote the sustainability of a product is to evaluate it through a

scorecard. They can either develop their own benchmark or use a third-party certification.

Internal assessments of the product resources, lifecycle benefits, global impacts and

sustainability reviews for internal and external factors can be greatly effective. But it can

also be a great option to consider third-party standards to be on the safer sides and adapt

easier and smoother workflows. The best way to integrate the business plans towards

promoting the sustainability of the product for any organization is to:

 Incorporate sustainability principles into all of the processes existing in the business

 Ensuring the units of business tie up the primary goals to bring in positive results to

at least one of the sectors including energy, waste management, greenhouse gases,

health/wellness benefits, water management or benefits to the community/society

 Linking at least one of the objectives of the performance of the employees to the

CSR (Corporate social responsibility).

It can be helpful to promote the sustainability of the product in terms of profit, promoting

the reputation of the product and the business and the mitigation of the avoidable risk at

early stages.

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