ABSTRACT
During the late 1980s, environmental policy in Denmark changed from an understanding of environmental problems as local problems, which could be handled with end-of-pipe solutions, towards a broader understanding with an emphasis on cleaner technologies. The formulation of a product-oriented environmental policy has gradually emerged since the late 1980s, and three 'tracks', in particular, express the growing interest in a product perspective: Eco-labelling, Public procurement and Life-cycle assessment. The general understanding in the Environmental Council and the Danish Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was that integrated product policy was mainly a voluntary initiative with a blend of policy instruments to stimulate both the supply and demand for cleaner products—in other words, a technology push and a market pull strategy combined with stakeholder participation. The programme on cleaner products represented a comprehensive effort within the Danish EPA with engagement of four offices that are cleaner product, industry, industrial waste, and household waste and involvement of several others.
