The rapid disposal of products has detrimental effects on environment which is increasing resource consumption for the production of new products, along with the waste production. Therefore, designing long lasting products has great importance for achieving sustainable consumption and production. The present study analyzes the implications of an approach called post-use design thinking for achieving sustainable consumption and production through product longevity. To explore that approach, two educational industrial design projects are analyzed throughout the study. The results suggest that post-use design thinking should be considered at the early stages of the design process. The idea generation exercises developed specifically for this design thinking seem to be helpful in generating design solutions for post-use phase. The results also indicate that the post-use design thinking is feasible in terms of design and production for glass packaging products, which is the specific case analyzed throughout the research.

Depuis l'entrée en vigueur de la directive européenne sur l'Evaluation Environnementale Stratégique (Directive 2001/42/CE), tous les plans et programmes en lien avec l'aménagement de territoires doivent être soumis à une évaluation environnementale ex ante. Cependant, il n'existe pas de démarche formalisée permettant de réaliser de telles évaluations. Ce travail de thèse propose donc d'élaborer une méthodologie d'évaluation environnementale d'un territoire dans son ensemble. Dans cet objectif, la première étape du travail de thèse a consisté à identifier et analyser les différents outils et méthodes mobilisables pour conduire une évaluation environnementale de territoires. Une comparaison approfondie de ces outils a permis de mettre en avant les potentialités de l'Analyse du Cycle de Vie (ACV). Toutefois, l'ACV est une approche dite « orientée produit », c'est-à-dire conçue pour évaluer l'impact d'un bien ou d'un service répondant à une fonction donnée, elle ne permet pas en tant que telle l'analyse d'un territoire dans son ensemble. Le cœur de la thèse s'articule donc autour de l'adaptation du cadre méthodologique de l'ACV pour mettre en œuvre des ACV dites « territoriales ». Quatre obstacles méthodologiques ont été identifiés et des propositions ont été formulées afin de les lever un à un, i.e. (i) définir l'unité fonctionnelle, (ii) déterminer les frontières du système, (iii) collecter les données et (iv) quantifier des indicateurs pertinents dans un contexte d'aide à la décision local. Une des principales adaptations proposée concerne la prise en compte du caractère multifonctionnel d'un territoire. Les diverses fonctions du territoire ne sont plus une donnée d'entrée du système étudié comme dans une ACV classique (à travers la définition de l'unité fonctionnelle), mais sont désormais le résultat d'un processus d'évaluation qui quantifie concomitamment des services rendus et des impacts environnementaux. Cette méthode d'analyse ayant été élaborée, nous l'avons appliquée à un cas d'étude, le territoire du Bassin de Thau, situé en France sur le littoral méditerranéen, afin d'analyser l'intérêt (méthode d'évaluation transversale, multicritère et globale), la faisabilité (en termes de collecte de données) et la robustesse (sensibilité à la méthode d'évaluation des impacts) d'une telle démarche. / Since the implementation of the European directive (EC/2001/42) on strategic environmental assessment, an ex ante evaluation is required for all plans and programmes related to land planning issues. However, there is no uniform methodology available to conduct such assessment. In order to tackle this issue, the task accomplished during this PhD is the development of an environmental assessment method of a territory as a whole. The first step has been to identify and analyze different tools and methods used to perform the environmental assessment of territories in order to compare them. The results show that Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is the most promising tool even if it is a “product-oriented” tool (i.e. designed to assess the environmental impacts of good or service that meets the requirements of a given function). Thus, our main contribution was to adapt the LCA framework to territorial systems and create a new approach, called “territorial LCA”. Four major methodological bottlenecks have been identified and proposals have been made to overcome them, i.e., (i) functional unit definition, (ii) boundary selection, (iii) data collecting, and (iv) the refinement of the Life Cycle Impact Assessment phase in order to provide useful indicators for decision making in a local context. One of the main adaptations is the consideration of the territorial multifunctionality. The various functions provided by a territory are not an input of the studied system like in a conventional LCA (through the functional unit definition), but are now the results of an assessment method which provides two kinds of indicators, i.e. indicators of services provided by the territory (land use functions) and indicators of environmental impacts generated by the territory. The last step was to implement the territorial LCA framework on a case study, the territory of Bassin de Thau, located on the French mediterranean coast, in order to evaluate its value (assessment method that is transversal, multicriteria and global), its feasibility (regarding data collection) and its robustness (sensitivity to the environmental impact assessment method).

Efforts to reduce negative impacts from consumption and production include voluntary market-based initiatives. Examples are the concept of eco-labelling and the concept of green procurement. These have emerged as policy instruments with great potentials to steer product innovation and purchasing decisions in a sustainable direction. This potential has been recognized by the United Nations, the European Union, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and national governments through, e.g., various programmes and schemes. The aim of this thesis is to assess current criteria development processes within eco-labelling and green procurement from a strategic sustainability perspective and to describe possible improvement potentials from such a perspective to make these instruments more supportive of sustainable product and service innovation. A previously published framework for strategic sustainable development, including a definition of sustainability and generic guidelines to inform strategies towards sustainability, is adapted and used for this purpose. Criteria development processes in two Swedish eco-labelling programmes and at a governmental expert body for green procurement are studied. This includes interviews with criteria developers, studies of process documents and a case study at the governmental expert body for green procurement in which two criteria development processes were shadowed. The result reveals several strengths but also gaps and thus potentials for improvement. The criteria development processes and the resulting criteria mostly concern the current market supply and a selection of current environmental impacts outside the context of long-term objectives. Neither sustainability nor any other clearly defined long-term objective is agreed upon, and the criteria are not structured to support procurers, suppliers and product developers in a systematic and strategic stepwise approach towards sustainability. Recommended improvements include a more thorough sustainability assessment, communication of clearer objectives, broader competence in the criteria development groups and more emphasis on the dialogue and interaction between key actors. This includes an extended view on both the product concept and actors involved. Based on this, a new criteria development prototype is suggested, which aims at widening the scope from some currently known product impacts to the remaining gap to sustainability. During its further development and implementation, the criteria development prototype will be tested in successive iterations of action research together with experienced practitioners within eco-labelling and green procurement.

Product labelling schemes have become one of the most prominently used instruments to facilitate more Sustainable Consumption and Production. But with a plethora of labelling schemes having been implemented, many now accuse them of being confusing rather than facilitating. As a result, governments in France, UK and Germany, as well as businesses, such as Walmart, and non-governmental organisations, like WWF, have begun to consider seriously the implementation of some form of ‘Sustainability Meta Label’ that condenses existing product-labels and other communication measures into a more coherent overarching scheme. Yet so far, in depth studies on the potential institutionalisation of a Sustainability Meta Labelling Scheme are missing.Based on case study research of four existing product labelling schemes (EU eco, EU energy, Fairtrade and MSC label), this study addresses this gap by developing a novel theoretical framework to study the causalities behind product labelling institutionalisation processes. Combining theoretical arguments of constructivist institutionalism and institutional entrepreneurship with concepts of legitimacy from the governance and organisational studies literature, this framework establishes the institutionalisation of product labelling schemes as contingent on an interactive legitimacy construction between actors involved in the initiation and organisational structures of a labelling scheme and other actors within the production and consumption system. This construction tends to cluster around aspects of tradition, regulation, charisma, knowledge, consequences, and procedures.By concretizing this framework in the context of the studied cases, it is shown how legitimacy constructions are highly complex and how in particular procedural and consequential legitimacy can give rise to fundamental conflicts. The potentially large scope, focus and area of application of a Sustainability Meta Label with the need to find agreements in regard to the very contested notion of Sustainable Development, seems to make the task of managing such conflicts even more difficult. While the mobilisation of knowledge, traditional, regulatory and charismatic logics can circumvent some of these conflicts, they have also demonstrated to be anything but a silver bullet. In a sense, this study shows that the very issue that is claimed to drive the establishment of a Sustainability Meta Labelling Scheme-the different interpretations of the Sustainable Development concept through different product labels-might in fact pose one of the main challenges for its institutionalisation and effectiveness in facilitating more Sustainable Consumption and Production.With these findings this study makes important contributions not only to an increasingly prominent policy making discussion but also to the wider product labelling and new institutional literature. After further empirical testing, the developed theoretical framework could guide future research into the institutionalisation of product labelling schemes and potentially also other ordering mechanisms. While the focus of this study is on commonalities across product labelling schemes such further research could especially expand on how micro, meso, and macro level factors can shape institutionalisation processes in diverse ways.

Textilkonsumtion i världen har ökat drastiskt under de senaste decennierna, vilket också syns i övergången till att fast fashion nu dominerar textilindustrin. Även i Sverige har konsumtionen ökat, vilket bidrar till att textilindustrin skapar allvarliga följder för miljön. Textilåterbruk och återvinning har under tiden släpat efter och ännu idag återvinns enbart enstaka procent av allt textilavfall. Enligt ett EU-direktiv ska samtliga EU-medlemmar år 2025 införa systematisk separat insamling av textilier. Detta erbjuder möjligheter till ökat återbruk och återvinning, men innebär också utmaningar för hantering av ökade flöden av separat textilavfall. En typ av teknologi som kan vara till hjälp för detta ändamål är automatiserad sortering. I denna rapport undersöks genom en litteraturstudie samt en intervjustudie, med aktörer inom återbruks- och återvinningsområdet, vilken inverkan sorteringsprocesser har på återvinning och textilflöden. Huvudsakligt fokus ligger på att förstå samspelet mellan automatiserad sortering och andra processer på en högre nivå, men även tekniska aspekter som inverkar på detta diskuteras. Från undersökningen framkom att automatiserad sortering spelar en begränsad men växande roll för textilflöden, där teknik baserat på nära infrarött ljus och spektrografi är vad som huvudsakligen används. Det finns en stor osäkerhet bland aktörer inom återvinning och återbruk gällande hur separat textilinsamling kommer att implementeras och om det kommer att finansieras via utökat producentansvar eller inte, vilket försvårar utveckling inom området. Det saknas teknik för att möjliggöra automatisering av många steg i den manuella sorteringsprocessen. För att öka automatiseringsgraden ser sig AI-baserade lösningar som det mest lovande utvecklingsområdet, men då det saknas välfinansierade projekt inom detta riskerar utvecklingen gå långsamt. Återvinning utgör enbart en del, som nu är mycket liten, i lösningen av textilindustrins miljöproblem varför minskning av textilkonsumtion generellt, samt förlängningen av textiliers livslängder fortsatt bör prioriteras. / Textile consumption worldwide has increased dramatically in recent decades, as evidenced by the overall transition to fast fashion which now dominates the textile industry. Consumption has also increased in Sweden, contributing to grave environmental consequences caused by the textile industry. Textile reuse and recycling has lagged behind, and to this day, only a fraction of all textile waste is recycled. According to an EU directive, all EU member states are required to implement systematic separate collection of textiles by 2025. This offers opportunities for increased reuse and recycling but also poses challenges for the management of increased flows of separated textile waste. One type of technology that can be useful for this purpose is automated sorting. This report examines, through a literature review as well as an interview study with actors in the reuse and recycling sector, the impact of sorting processes on recycling and textile flows. The primary focus of the report is on understanding the interaction between automated sorting and other processes at a higher level, however technical aspects that affect this are also discussed. The investigation revealed that automated sorting plays a limited but growing role in textile flows, where technology based on near-infrared light and spectroscopy is primarily used. There is a great deal of uncertainty among stakeholders within the recycling and reuse sector regarding how textile collection will be implemented and whether it will be financed through extended producer responsibility or not, which impedes development. With regard to many of the steps involved in manual textile sorting, there is currently no technology that would enable their automation. To increase the level of automation, AI-based solutions appear to constitute the most promising area of development, but the lack of well-funded projects in this area risks slowing down progress. Recycling represents only a small part of the solution to the environmental problems of the textile industry, which is why reducing overall textile consumption and extending the textile lifespans should continue to be prioritized.

I dagsläget är det inte helt självklart hur hållbara inköpsprocesser skulle kunna utformas och implementeras i företag. Att utveckla hållbara inköpsprocesser är dock viktigt för att öka det sociala samt miljömässiga ansvarstagandet. Detta för att undvika att materialanskaffning, och därmed framställning av möbler, får en negativ påverkan på människan och miljön.   Denna studie syftar till att besvara hur hållbara inköpsprocesser skulle kunna utvecklas inom möbelbranschen med avseende på socialt och miljömässigt ansvarstagande för att bidra till en hållbar konsumtion och produktion av möbler. Tre intervjustudier har genomförts med tre olika möbelföretag i syfte att exemplifiera hur hållbara inköpsprocesser skulle kunna utvecklas med hjälp av litteratur. Litteraturstudien har baserats på vetenskapliga artiklar, böcker samt Internetkällor och ligger till grund för de modeller och teorier som är till för att uppfylla studiens syfte.     Studiens resultat visar på olika steg som kan implementeras i den traditionella inköpsprocessen för att öka det sociala samt miljömässiga ansvarstagandet i samband med materialanskaffning. Resultatet visar även på i vilken omfattning de olika stegen är lämpliga att utföra samt exempel på hur stegen skulle kunna implementeras i företag. Ytterligare resultat belyser att den cirkulära ekonomin samt olika slags hållbarhetsmärkningar påverkar huruvida hållbar den färdiga möbeln kan komma att bli. Att utveckla hållbara inköpsprocesser kan dock bli en kostnads- samt tidsfråga men det får en avgörande roll för att bidra till hållbar konsumtion och produktion av möbler. / It is not entirely obvious how sustainable purchasing processes could be developed and implemented in companies today. Sustainable purchasing processes are important to increase the social and environmental responsibility. This to avoid that the material procurement, and thereby the production of furniture, has a negative impact on the people and the planet. This study aims to explain how sustainable purchasing processes could be developed in the furniture industry with respect to social and environmental responsibility in order to contribute to a sustainable consumption and production of furniture. Three interviews have been conducted with three different furniture companies in order to exemplify how sustainable purchasing processes could be developed based on literature. To fulfil the purpose of this study, articles, books and internet sources have been used to form the theories and models. The result from this study shows a set of steps which can be implemented in the traditional purchasing process in order to increase a social and environmental responsibility associated with material procurement. The result also shows the extent to which the different steps are appropriate to perform and will exemplify how companies could implement these steps. Further result clarifies that the circular economy and different kinds of sustainability labels affect whether the finished furniture may become sustainable. Developing sustainable purchasing processes may require a lot of time and money, but it has a crucial role to play in contributing to a sustainable consumption and production of furniture.

Antalet hållbarhetskrav ökar allt med tiden, vilket även gäller för fordonsindustrin. Tillverkarna förmedlar vidare de krav som ställs mot de till deras leverantörer i försörjningskedjan. Några av dessa krav är inte tillräckligt tydliga för leverantörerna, de vet inte vilka processer som ligger bakom dessa krav för att uppnå dem. Särskilt de aspekter som leverantörerna inte arbetat med tidigare och som är nya liksom miljömässig hållbarhet. Detta examensarbete syftar till att ta reda på vilka hållbarhetskrav - med fokus på miljömässig hållbarhet - som ställs mot leverantörer inom tung fordonsindustri. Frågeställningen som besvaras i detta arbete är följande: Vilka hållbarhetskrav har svenska tillverkare inom tung-fordonsindustrin på sina leverantörer i förhållande till miljömässig hållbarhet? Den metod som använts för att kunna besvara frågeställningen är en egen variant av abduktiv och deduktiv metod. Där har teorin utvecklats med tiden genom de dokument som mottagits från fallföretag och dess kunder, samt de semistrukturerade intervjuer som genomförts. Metoden har varit givande för analysen där alla former av data som samlats in - teori, dokument och intervju - sammankopplas genom de mest förekommande ämnena. Utifrån den givna informationen och analysen framkom resultat och slutsatser. De miljömässiga hållbarhetskraven som ställs mot leverantörer inom tung-fordonsindustri är följande: beräkning av CO2 utsläpp genom GHG-protocol, implementering av förnybar energi i verksamheten, samt välja CO2 snåla och återvinningsbara material. / The number of sustainability requirements are increasing over time, which also applies to the automotive industry. The manufacturers further convey the demands placed on them to their suppliers in the supply chain. Some of these requirements are not clear enough for the suppliers, they do not know what processes are behind these requirements to achieve them. Especially the aspects that the suppliers have not worked with before and which are new, such as environmental sustainability. This thesis aims to find out which sustainability requirements - with a focus on environmental sustainability - are placed on suppliers in the heavy vehicle industry. The question answered in this work is the following: Which sustainability requirements do Swedish manufacturers in the heavy vehicle industry have on their suppliers in relation to environmental sustainability? The method used to be able to answer the question is a variant of the abductive and deductive methods. There, the theory has been developed over time through the documents received from case companies and their customers, as well as the semi-structured interviews that have been conducted. The method has been fruitful for the analysis where all forms of data collected - theory, documents, and interviews - are connected through the most common topics. Based on the given information and analysis, results and conclusions emerged. The environmental sustainability requirements placed on suppliers in the heavy vehicle industry are as follows: calculation of CO2 emissions through the GHG protocol, implementation of renewable energy in the business, and choosing CO2-saving and recyclable materials.