An international study on utilization of design for environment methods (DfE) - a pre-study

This paper presents an international study on utilization of DfE methods. The paper is therefore a basis for research cooperation between the authors. Within this proposal a pre-study, including desk research and an interview, was carried out. For the interview a questionnaire in conjunction with a semi-structured interview was carried out in five major companies in Japan and Europe. The goal of the desk research and the interview was to identify the current state of DfE, the barriers for DfE and the wishes and needs of the DfE. At the end of the paper the results found during the research and interviews were discussed, from which the final conclusions and outlook for further cooperation research were drawn. Future research within the collaboration will focus on DfE for SME companies since bigger companies have already established the DfE process. Through future legislation, SME companies will have to establish DfE processes as well. The DfE process of the major companies is not completely transferable to SME; therefore, a different approach must be established.