METHODOLOGY OF PRODUCT ECOBALANCES AND MO DELS FOR THEIR ASSESSMENT INCLUDING EXAMPLES OF THE PRODUCT ECOBALANCE OF MILK PACKAGES

After the presentation of the main points of criticism in regard to th e method ,,ecobalance'' and especially to product ecobalance in chapte r 1, chapter 2 defines, first, a number of special notions belonging t o the field of ecobalance and environment, as, for this, no uniforn no menclature is existing. The survey in chapter 3 of the methodical elem ents of product ecobalances using the example of milk packages shows, that a PEB, in which careful vertical and horizontal analysis, as well as thorough data aquisition has been made, allows the relative enviro nmental tolerance of a product to be determined. As a result of a PEB frequently partial findings are obtained, which may contain contrary i nformation. A reduction of these abundant individual results is only p ossible to a certain extent by ,,cumulative parameters''. Aggregation of the different product-specific environmental uses into a parameter by means of a method of evaluation shall allow a clear-cut assessment to be made. In chapter 4 the currently available non-monetary and mone tary models of assessment are described. Apart from verbal-argumentati ve evaluations, which do not yield a generally valid information, the non-monetary methods of evaluation are frequently used. Experiences ma de so far in Switzerland have shown, that several methods can, indeed, be considered as being equally practicable. For Swiss ecobalances ass essment is mainly made according to the models of critial nuisance and ecological shortage. Monetary assessment of the environmental nuisanc es would lead to many facilities, would, in particular, offer the poss ibility of a comparison with economic costs. The monetarization statem ents presented can, however, estimate so far only the value of individ ual nuisance substances and are not equally well suited for all enviro nmental uses. Monetarization on the basis of damage-avoidance cost or damage cost appears quite possible in future. In chapter 5 different p ossibilities in regard to the information on environmental nuisances w ithin the framework of a PEB and by the ensuing ecoprofile are describ ed. From this it appears, that both the single-product consideration a nd comparative analysis of several functional alternatives enable an i nformation on environmental uses to be obtained. The designation ,,eco balance'' is frequently considered incorrect, because no two-sided bal ance is recognisable as final survey. With respect to the accounting b alance the kinds of environmental uses can be characterized in this pu blication as assets and the phases of the ,,product path'' as total eq uity and liabilities. A balance sheet total can be made via aggregatio n of the different uses and nuisances by using an evaluation process. It does not appear useful to extend the PEB beyond the analysis of the environmental effects. Here special studies should be made in paralle l. Chapter 6 concerns the development of the product ecobalance in Ger many and Switzerland. In Germany a standard method for product balanci ng is recently being developed. The built-up of a database for environ mental nuisances by packages is to be completed in the near future. A computer software for processing these data is being developed in para llel. It is evident that Switzerland is several years ahead in the fie ld of product balancing. In 1991 an up-dated data collection in regard to the environmental nuisances of packaging material was published by the Swiss environmental ministry. These data are contained in the EDP program ,,Oko-Base II of the ,,Migros-Genossenschafts-Bund'', which c an, however, not be applied without modifications in the FRG. The meth odical development of the product ecobalances is not yet completed in the Federal Republic. Discussions of the theoretical bases and the ana lyses of corresponding examples have shown, that, by considering a num ber of criteria for preparing the balance and publication of the resul ts a reconstructible measurement of the environmental nuisances is pos sible.