Up to now, environmental policies have relied mainly on rules,
regulations, and prohibitions. This kind of environmental policy -- a
clearly reactive approach - has shown a mounting array of limitations.
There is a clear need to seek new solutions, in particular those
involving the initiative of firms themselves. Since the mid-1980's, a
new approach called "environmental management" has been established in
research and practical applications; it is designed to systematically
integrate environmental considerations into company activities. If, for
instance, environmental objectives are being formulated for an
enterprise, it is imperative to identify, highlight, and analyze real
and significant environmental impacts of the firm's activities and to
take appropriate measures to improve its performance. Controlling and
implementing these environmental objectives requires suitable
structures, procedures, and tools. Many motivated companies have
approached the issue of environmental management through incorporating
methods such "continual improvement processes" and "Life Cycle
Assessment" into the various operational activities of the enterprise.
Some firms initiated such transformation processes at their own
production sites because it was easier to identify their own
environmental impacts than to analyze, let alone mitigate, the effects
of upstream and downstream processes. However, in many cases these
processes are decisive factors in the overall environmental performance
of a product. It has become clear that product design can influence
these processes to a great extent.