Industry

Ecodesign Support Package (ESP)

This bespoke, multi-level support package provided an exclusive opportunity for four Welsh Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) from the electrical and electronic equipment (EEE), general manufacturing, food and drink and low-carbon technology sectors to access the following support over a 12 month period (Sept 2007 – August 2008):

EDC’s in-house team: EDC provided specialist knowledge, guidance, facilitation, research, monitoring and promotion. Regular project meetings were held to facilitate dialogue, discuss progress, transfer knowledge and provide guidance.

Commercial support partnerships sessions: A platform for selected companies to share experiences about implementing ecodesign and embedding sustainability in their business strategies, with the support of industry-based experts. Three sessions were spread over the twelve months and involved inviting experts from leading partner companies (based in Wales) to provide insight and transfer knowledge. The workshops were as follows:

Embedding sustainability in business strategy: Rockwool Ltd hosted and presented at a workshop at their manufacturing site. Read more about the Rockwool workshop
Ecodesign compliance: Panasonic Manufacturing (UK) Ltd hosted and presented at their manufacturing site. Read more about the Panasonic workshop
Ethical brand development: howies presented at the workshop which was hosted by Orangebox. Read more about the howies and Orangebox workshop

At the end of the demonstration phase a close off meeting was hosted by G24 Innovations. This workshop focused on exploring key successes and barriers, main lessons learnt and the next steps for the four companies. Read more about the close off meeting.

Up to £20K per company: This financial support was assigned to specific aspects of the projects such as life cycle analysis (LCA) of products, construction of and training for using streamlined LCA tools for future product development , new graphics, branding and business communications, eco-friendly packaging development and implementation of “Cradle to Cradle” (C2C) design strategies.

To gain access to the ESP, companies were required to make an in-kind contribution to the ongoing activities of EDC and to assign appropriate resources (monetary or otherwise) to ensure the smooth running of their projects.

Please consult our Technical Glossary for clarification on key terminology listed above.