Ecodesign methodology applied to human-powered trolleys for Barcelona’s urban cleaning

Resumen

This paper attempts to show the research process of a new set of human-powered cleaning trolleys for Barcelona’s urban setting, fitting the established green public purchasecriteria. Coinciding with the announcement of hiring the services of waste collection for the period 2008-2015 by the Barcelona City Council, the local environmental services company“Corporació CLD”, began a R&D project with ESDi in order to redesign their trolleys’Product Service-System. Public institutions, as responsible for the 18% of the GDP generated in Europe, plays a prominent role in encouraging eco-innovation for companies that aspire tocompete in this market, according to the Integrated Product Policy (IPP). Ecodesign methodology has been applied here not only for environmental improvement but also as a strategic approach to foster systemic innovation within the company. A set of tools from various disciplines was used, such as: Ecostrategic Wheel, Life Cycle Management with Eco-Indicadors’99, user involvement, ergonomics and empowerment of local suppliers’ chain.The outcomes allowed the company to win the contest, getting a new trolley model for publicuse -nowadays running-, while enhancing its environmental, ergonomic, social and economic features, as well as optimizing its function. In short, a range of competitive advantages wereachieved within a typology of product destined for the collection of garbage, but whose ownembedded impact is paradoxical and often ignored