Greening products: a framework for product chain management

Diminishing the ecological effects of products has become an important focus of corporate environmental strategies. Based on empirical research by the author and published sources, this paper presents a conceptual framework of six types of product chain management. By looking at several categories of costs and benefits for different actors (suppliers, producers, distributors, consumers) associated with each of these types, the framework focusses on their differential nature. In addition, the diversity in strategies open to each of these actors in the product chain is a main focus of the paper. The use of the framework as an analytical as well as an interventionist tool is discussed.