Building an eco-design tool kit at Kodak

Kodak´s health, safety and environmental (HSE) vision is to make measurable improvements in the health, safety and environmental aspects of its products, services, and operations. In a global, horizontally-integrated business, a `systems approach´ is required to attain this vision. Towards this end, Eastman Kodak Company has developed nine HSE Guiding Principles, two of which directly address the principle of eco-design. Often the most relevant environmental aspects of a product system occur upstream or downstream of manufacturing. Access to tools that provide information on the potential environmental effects of design alternatives throughout the product life-cycle is a prerequisite for establishing appropriate criteria. This paper discusses how Kodak has begun to integrate eco-design in its overall business strategy. After evaluating a number of eco-design tools, Kodak chose a commercially available software package to augment its design process for electronic imaging product systems. Together with company-specific policies, design guides, and regulatory requirements, the software forms a framework for a comprehensive eco-design toolkit. The paper demonstrates the application of the toolkit on a conceptual imaging product system. Toolkit customization to address company-specific policies and issues is explored along with envisioned improvements