WP1 Situation analysis in Portugal

Transcription

1 WP1 Situation analysis in Portugal

2 Contents Brief overview of the ceramic sector in Portugal Training and information needs and offers on ecodesign Analysis Companies Analysis Education and Vocational Training Institutions Analysis Business Associations The Portuguese ceramic sector and sustainable development Gaps analysis: Training needs and offers on ecodesign in ceramic

3 Brief overview of the ceramic sector in Portugal Number of ceramic companies per subsector and in total (2010) Total number of companies Number of active companies Bricks and roof tiles Wall and floor tiles Source: APICER, as referred by CTCV, unpublished. Table and ornamental ware Sanitary ware Special ceramics Total Brick and roof tiles Wall and floor tiles Sanitary ware Table and ornamental ware Special ceramics Source: APICER

4 Brief overview of the ceramic sector in Portugal Key players that support and promote the design and technology bond in the ceramic sector in Portugal: CTCV Glass and Ceramic Technologic Centre CENCAL Ceramic Industry Vocational Training Centre CPD Portuguese Design Centre ESAD/IPL Arts and Design College from the Leiria Polytechnic Institute and its Design Studio APICER Portuguese Association of Ceramic Industry

5 Brief overview of the ceramic sector in Portugal Despite of the increasing performance in the quality and capacity of the development of new products, the ceramic sector in Portugal faces difficulties due to: Competition from Asian producers at prices level; Increasingly restrictive environmental legislation; Lack of recognition of the Portuguese brand name in external markets; Lack of flexibility from companies that have difficulties in supplying low quantities of products.

6 Training and information needs on ecodesign Surveys in Ceramic Companies No. of inquired companies: 31 (4,4% of the total number of national companies reported for 2007 and 7,7% of the unofficial figure of 401 active companies in 2010) Coverage of the four approached ceramic subsectors: Table and ornamental ware 11 (5,4% of the total in the subsector in 2010) Bricks and roof tiles 10 (9,6% of the total) Wall and floor tiles 8 (20% of the total) Sanitary ware 2 companies (12,5% of the total) Size of the responding companies: 12 small companies, 10 mediumsized companies and 9 large companies

7 Training and information needs on ecodesign Surveys in Education and Vocational Training Institutions Review of ceramic, design and ecodesign education in Portugal In Portugal training institutions in the area of design supply a large number of professional designers every year to the labour market, but most of them are not integrated in Portuguese companies. In total, the number of design courses in all design areas (product, graphic, fashion, multimedia, etc.) is 127. This figure includes University courses only, from licentiate degree to PhD s. Out of the 127, 29 refer to product design and 9 offer ecodesign training.

8 Training and information needs on ecodesign Surveys in Education and Vocational Training Institutions Review of ceramic, design and ecodesign education in Portugal Currently there are in Portugal few institutions offering training in the field of ceramics. The analysis is based on the answers from 3 VET institutions CENCAL has a specific course of ecodesign in ceramics. ESAD/IPL: the ecodesign training is included in 2 disciplines, a mandatory and an optional one linked to the various Design courses. In ESTG/IPVC, ecodesign is addressed in the context of the project assignment within the Design course/ceramic Engineering course.

9 Training and information needs on ecodesign Surveys in Business Associations In Portugal there is one sector specific business association: APICER Associação Portuguesa da Indústria Cerâmica (Portuguese Association of Ceramic Industry), which was inquired. APICER has not yet been engaged in ecodesign projects, nor have organized events in this field, however it recognizes its strategic importance to the sector, since they receive requests on information, tools and partners in the field of ecodesign.

10 The Portuguese ceramic sector and sustainable development Sustainable development - SWOT Strengths Advantage of the ceramic material compared to synthetic materials. Despite the existence of various products and substitute materials of ceramics, this natural material is still considered an excellent material for certain applications. Weaknesses Eco-efficiency solutions addressing the several stages of production, including raw-materials recovery, have not yet been adopted in a systematic way by the majority of national companies. Opportunities Sustainable construction legislation provides an opportunity for the structural and floor and wall tiles subsectors to find new market niches and new product development paths (including ecodesign for energy savings in construction products). The renewable energy policies are a sustainability opportunity for an energy-intensive sector such as ceramics. Threats Environmental, health and safety policies are not comparable between some of the competitors, which leads to a lack of competitiveness of the national sector. The ceramics industry is facing increasingly restrictive environmental regulations on energy consumption, CO 2 emission and waste generation. Companies have to comply with EU directives such as "Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control" and "Carbon Trading Scheme, which are not yet applied at the global scale. Source: APICER, SPI, Plano Estratégico para o Sector da Cerâmica em Portugal: Relatório Final, September.

11 Gaps analysis: Training needs and offers on ecodesign in ceramics 1. The assessment, together with a description of the ceramic sector and subsectors in Portugal, confirmed the lack as well as interest in ecodesign know-how in the ceramic sector and thus the pertinence of InEDIC. Most of the answers to the question why not perform ecodesign? were lack of know-how, followed by lack of customer demand.

12 Gaps analysis: Training needs and offers on ecodesign in ceramics 2. It was observed in the sample that most companies have freedom to change their products, have in-house design and development and employ designers, so designers and product developers are the adequate target group within the industry for the project s results.

13 Gaps analysis: Training needs and offers on ecodesign in ceramics 3. In order to contribute to the competitiveness of the ceramic sector in Portugal, ecodesign should support the most promising business strategies, having in mind the characteristics of the different products and their markets. Thus, InEDIC should promote the production of high quality and environmentally superior products and address relevant opportunities for the different subsectors.

14 Gaps analysis: Training needs and offers on ecodesign in ceramics 4. Given the challenges the ceramic sector is facing, on the one hand, and the fact that only one company related the practice of ecodesign with innovation, the project should emphasise the innovation potential of ecodesign through the methodological approach of the training materials and the availability of inspiring examples and case studies.

15 Gaps analysis: Training needs and offers on ecodesign in ceramics 5. The subsectors related to construction are very important in view of the Ecodesign of energy-related products Directive. In the environmental evaluation of products and as part of proposed ecodesign strategies, InEDIC should encompass the role of ceramic products in the sustainability profile of buildings (energy efficiency and water saving, a.o.).

16 Gaps analysis: Training needs and offers on ecodesign in ceramics 6. Although there are criteria defined for the EU ecolabel for hard flooring and product category rules for environmental product declarations of ceramic products, no Portuguese ceramic company uses these communication tools. Given their importance and direct relation to ecodesign, InEDIC should address ecolabels and environmental product declarations in the training materials.

17 Gaps analysis: Training needs and offers on ecodesign in ceramics 7. The energy bill of ceramic companies is a very important production cost and therefore ecodesign measures that influence the energy consumption aspect are very valuable for the companies.

18 Gaps analysis: Training needs and offers on ecodesign in ceramics 8. More than half of the responding companies were certified according to ISO 9001; approximately one third also had an environmental management system (ISO 14001/EMAS) in place; half of the companies that stated their motivations to perform ecodesign referred standard s requirements. The conclusion is that the InEDIC training materials should include the relationship between ecodesign and quality/environmental management systems.

19 Gaps analysis: Training needs and offers on ecodesign in ceramics 9. Co-development or concurrent engineering was identified as an important approach for exploring the full potential of designers in supporting companies strategies and better respond to market needs. The project should promote the strategic and tactical role of designers and support the integration of functions in the different stages of product development.

20 Gaps analysis: Training needs and offers on ecodesign in ceramics 10. Accordingly, and given the importance companies awarded to market requirements and, to a less degree, to production aspects in product design, the consideration of the influence of designers in production processes as well as tools to address and anticipate market requirements should be included in the InEDIC tools and materials.

21 Gaps analysis: Training needs and offers on ecodesign in ceramics Tools for life cycle assessment of ceramic products Ecodesign strategies for ceramic products Communication tools for (eco)designed products Creativity techniques Environmental information on ceramic raw materials Environmental information on ceramic technologies Tools for ecodesign options generation Eco labeling criteria All proposed topics for the InEDIC training materials were considered important by the majority of the respondents.

22 Project coordinator: LNEG National Laboratory of Energy and Geology UPCS Sustainable Production-Consumption Research Unit Lisbon, Portugal Cristina Sousa Rocha, researcher