Life Cycle Thinking

Clean Production requires system thinking. Both the public and producers must have good information about what is happening along the product chain to move towards Clean Production.

The product life cycle (sometimes called the product chain) encompasses the entire system of materials and energy used in production systems. The life of a product consists of a number of steps, each of which uses energy and materials and generates waste and emissions. Currently, most of the products on the global market use toxic and resource intensive materials during their production and use stages resulting in hazardous waste generation. Clean production requires that producers look at all of these impacts to see how they can improve products and processes to make them more compatible with our natural ecosystem. Consumers can demand life cycle assessment information, labeling and environmental product profiles. Other measurement tools involve MIPS (material intensity per service unit). Producers can use these tools within their supply chain management program to improve their product design.

Information on worker rights and community protection is harder to find. Corporate social responsibility reporting varies from industry to industry.