Swedish Experience Using Environmental Accounts Data for Integrated Product Policy Issues

This article quantifies and ranks the environmental pressure caused by different product groups consumed in Sweden. This is done using information from economic and environmental statistics. An analysis for the year 1998 is performed for approximately 50 product groups using input-output analysis. This type of analysis has some major advantages for integrated product policy (IPP) purposes: the underlying data are regularly updated, the data systems are being harmonized by international standards, and the connection between environmental goals and IPP goals can be investigated. This article summarizes two Swedish reports, one for the Producer Responsibility Committee and one for the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency The results show that the volume of consumption is an important factor in environmental pressure from products as well as impact intensities. The most important product categories for private consumption are petroleum products, electricity, construction, and food and beverages, as well as transport. Possibilities of building indicators for IPP are also discussed.