Coherence in product-oriented policies and environmental management systems in the car industry: cases of BMW and Opel

Over the last decade, product-oriented policies as Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) and Integrated Product Policy (IPP) are more and more recognised as a target for both corporate environmental strategy and government environmental policy. These product-oriented policies are distinct from more traditional process-oriented policies and are a challenge for companies. The article presents some of the authors  investigations on how the car industry has dealt with both process-oriented and product-oriented policies. [1] EPR refers to extending producer responsibility for products beyond the useful life into the post-consumer stage. [2] IPP is a public policy strategy, which seeks to reduce the life cycle environmental impacts of products from the mining of raw materials to production, distribution, use and waste management.