Preventing Environmental Damage from Products

How to tackle environmental damage from the throwaway society is one of the defining questions of the twenty-first century. By establishing a circular economy, we can encourage and support sustainable production and consumption. These essays by an international group of leading scholars from a range of disciplines analyse policies and legal instruments and challenge mainstream assumptions, from the choice of a policy mix to the actual effect of imposing standards on the market, and from corporate objectives and priorities to the use of precaution in assessing particularly harmful substances. Each chapter contributes to a better understanding of the current policy and regulatory framework in Europe and identifies the challenges and opportunities ahead. The book breaks new ground by examining how product policies can contribute to important objectives and visions, such as the aims of the circular economy. It is a must-read for researchers as well as for policymakers and practitioners.

'This book is a welcome contribution to our understanding of product policy. It provides a systematic analysis of key elements of product policy - law, regulation, trade issues - and sophisticated exploration of the challenges to this approach to environmental policy. While product policy is most advanced in Europe, the integration of life-cycle thinking is growing worldwide. This book will be very useful to researchers, policy makers, and activists grappling with the many dimensions of product policy including eco-design, extended producer responsibility, chemicals in products, and eco-labels, and their many intersections.' Reid Lifset, editor of Journal of Industrial Ecology and Yale University, Connecticut, 'The anthology contains a number of insightful analyses that provide new and refreshing perspectives on issues ranging from how to reduce the impact from different types of products, to the need for regulations due to market failures, and the vulnerability of markets to violations by powerful suppliers. All in all, the book brings the reader up-to-date on the complex issues related to environmental regulations for products and provides a unique overview of the area. Time well spent!' Mats Larsson, IUC Syd, author of Circular Business Models and The Business of Global Energy Transformation, 'Every environmental lawyer needs this book. Too little attention goes to pollution from products. Yet from cars to plastics, making, using and disposing of products create some of today's biggest pollution problems. This book provides the most comprehensive discussion of these issues to date. The authors are leading experts and bring rigour and clarity to their work. If you use law to protect the planet, or simply want to understand the Herculean tasks we face, order your copy.' James Thornton, environmental lawyer and founding CEO of ClientEarth, 'This book makes a compelling case for strengthening product design in order to minimise environmental impacts through the life cycle. From energy efficiency requirements to durability, reparability and recyclability standards, it explains how product-oriented environmental laws can help solve some of the most pressing issues of our time.' Jeremy Wates, Secretary General of the European Environmental Bureau, 'This edited volume truly engages the reader with its thoughtful treatment of environmental product policies. The book skilfully interweaves topical legal and policy considerations in its exploration of major themes and cases in this field, which the circular economy discourse has brought (back) to the forefront of developments.' Harri Kalimo, Jean Monnet Professor, Institute for European Studies, Vrije Universiteit Brussel

Eléonore Maitre-Ekern is a Ph.D. Candidate in the Department of Public and International Law at the Universitetet i Oslo, Norway. Carl Dalhammar is Associate Professor in the International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics (IIIEE) at Lunds Universitet, Sweden. Hans Christian Bugge is Professor emeritus in Environmental Law in the Department of Public and International Law at the Universitetet i Oslo, Norway.