Product design plays a very important role in product-related environmental protection. This is where our long years of varied experience help minimize the expected environmental impact of a product in its lifecycle.
We have established an internal, company-wide environmental standard (formerly Siemens standard SN 36350-1/2/3/5), which outlines the requirements regarding environmentally compatible product and system design throughout the lifecycle. We thus define minimum standards for the environmentally compatible development of our products and solutions. The standard is continually adapted to meet international requirements, with corresponding work instructions providing more detailed guidance. The implementation of these requirements is a mandatory part of the processes we use to control the entire product lifecycle as well as our other global project management processes.
The use phase of many of our products and solutions has the greatest ecological impact. We therefore focus particularly on resource and energy efficiency in the use phase of the products. Together with the information from our lifecycle assessments, this helps improve the ecological impact of our customers.
A holistic cradle-to-cradle approach (i.e. closed material loops) is thus becoming increasingly important in product development. With this approach, products that have reached the end of their use phase become a source of resources for new products. Through reuse, refurbishing or recycling, products, components, or materials go through more than just one lifecycle, and therefore make a substantial contribution to the protection of the environment.
In this context the use of high-risk substances in an electronic product can greatly impact the product's recyclability. Transparent chemicals management is therefore one of the foundations for exerting a positive influence on environmentally compatible product design throughout the lifecycle and closing material loops.
The ecologically aware use of resources – and thus the avoidance of waste – is not only a concern of production sites and branch offices. Resource conservation already plays an important role in the product development phase to ensure a holistic approach throughout the product lifecycle. We therefore focus particularly on resource and energy efficiency in the design and use phase of the products, thus improving their ecological impact. This benefits not only Siemens but particularly our customers, since the environmental impact of our products is often at its greatest during the use phase, i.e. at our customers' sites.
Siemens' internal environmental standard on "Specifications on environmentally compatible product and system design" (formerly SN 36350-1/2/3/5) takes this into account: For example, it includes requirements regarding the reduction of material use, material variety and product weight through appropriate product and system design while also calling for the conservation of resources when procuring components.
2011-Mar-09 | Author