Executive summary

Abstract

Environmental policy in the countries of the European Union (and elsewhere) has, at least in some areas and to some extent, been successful in controlling the more traditional sources of pollution, the process-related emissions. But one of the largest sources, the product, has been given much less attention. It has now become clear that the efficiency of additional process-oriented measures is decreasing, as various uncontrolled non-point sources become large contributors to pollution. The growing awareness of the crucial role of products has led policy to designate products as one of the focal points of environmental policy.