Product Sustainability Information: State of Play and Way Forward
This report analyses information and communication about PSI. It provides an overview of the current state in the area of PSI, analyses the key trends, drivers and challenges in this eld, and draws policy recommendations on how to facilitate better decision-making on the sustainability aspects of products.
This report investigates the four main aspects that determine the way in which information about sustainability is generated and how consumers and other stakeholders are informed:
• The fundamental challenges around understanding and communicating sustainability information of products and the current landscape of sustainable product information tools.
• The main stakeholder groups and potential “game changers” or innovations on the horizon.
• The mechanisms, incentives and drivers that create this landscape.
• Analysis of the tools and initiatives landscape in developed and developing countries.
The target audience is providers and mediators of that information, such as the governmental and non-governmental organisation (NGO) community as well as public and private entities currently working in this area.
The term “sustainability” is used widely in this report. In principle, it should refer to its three pillars — people, planet and profit — but the tools often only address the planet or ecological aspect, and sometimes only one feature, such as climate. For readability, as well as to promote the potential importance of considering all three pillars, we always refer to sustainability as comprising them.
