So in the second instance you work out the foundations for complying with legislation – which requires a lot of committee work. What do you like most about your work?
What’s particularly exciting is the communication with the many people from the most diverse backgrounds. After all, it’s not just industrial experts from all walks of life that are on the standardization committees, but also representatives of NGOs and consumer protection. Listening to the different opinions, discussing topics and sometimes looking at them from an entirely different perspective really is a lot of fun. Of course this can occasionally be exhausting, too, as it takes a lot of convincing to reach compromises. But I think it’s important that with our work on guidelines, we ensure that products are used for longer or recycled in a better way at the end of their life cycle. Environmental awareness is paramount when it comes to material efficiency, and this inspires me.
For me, the term “material efficiency” immediately ties up with the question about alternative material. But that doesn’t get to the heart of the matter, according to what you’ve just said. What exactly played a role here in the standardization process?
I’ll need to elaborate a bit for that: in 2005, a framework regulation at EU level concerning environmentally friendly product design took effect, in which it was stipulated that products should be designed in an energy-efficient and resource-saving manner. As the subject of energy efficiency is relatively easy to measure and compare, this area was initially given more attention. I believe everyone is by now familiar with one of the results – the labels for energy efficiency on electric appliances, like fridges.
But in terms of energy consumption, the potential for optimizing electronic devices was nearly at its upper limit. Sure, the most energy-efficient vacuum cleaner is the broom, but of course the appliances should also serve their purpose. So it was about resource efficiency at another level and the key questions: how can the durability of products be increased long-term? How do you improve the reparability and recyclability in creating norms for these? To come back to your question – the type of material is not the focus and is just one possible aspect.
And the standards for material efficiency have now been worked out?
Some of the standards have already been published – for example those on the recyclability of products. Others are still in the process of being adapted. The standardization process is planned pretty much to the last detail and takes about three years. The drafts that are created at EU level are played back to the national expert committees. The standard is only published when these have been passed there.
In any case, it’s now a matter of developing product-specific guidelines – also for vacuum cleaners, for example – on the basis of the general standards.