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About half the world's leading technology companies consider sustainability when designing new products and services, but only a few have yet begun to do anything significant.
A study of 40 of the largest companies found 18 are taking account of sustainability 'along with other factors' - double the figure revealed by a similar survey in 1999.
Among the leaders were BT, for its Exact monitoring system that helps frail elderly people to continue living in their own homes; France Telecom, for its development of a face-to-face 3D teleconferencing system; and Sony, for its ReCellular coating process that restores old plastic.
However, management consultancy Arthur D. Little, which carried out the study, concludes that although 'sustainability-driven innovation' is important for many companies, most put it low on the 'immediate action list'. Only a handful had fully integrated sustainability factors into product design.
The principal barriers were 'a high degree of internal and external scepticism', worries about the risk of developing new products, a lack of suitable business models, and the industry's innate tendency to use capital 'to produce more of the same in new markets rather than to develop new models'.
The small number of companies leading the way tended to have chief executives with clear vision, a well-articulated set of values and a demonstrated commitment to innovation and sustainability'.
Arthur D. Little says the successful companies tended to focus on 'one or two nuggets of opportunity' in their product range rather than attempting to apply the principles of sustainability more widely - and that one of the best ways to make progress is to deliberately recruit individuals with an active interest in sustainability aspects.
Despite the lack of substantial activity, the study found that almost two-thirds of the companies in the study felt that developing 'sustainability-driven' products had the potential to increase profits. A similar proportion said demand from consumers for such products would be a 'very important' driver during the next five years.
The companies, surveyed between June and September 2004, were in Germany, Italy, Japan, Switzerland, the UK and the US - and included huge brand names such as Dupont, HP, Motorola, Procter & Gamble, Sony and Vodafone.
Justin Keeble, head of Arthur D. Little's UK sustainability services, said most of the businesses in the study were 'broadly speaking, open to the concepts of sustainability', but many were only 'dabbling' and had yet to do the work needed 'to integrate it into their business'.
A study of 40 of the largest companies found 18 are taking account of sustainability 'along with other factors' - double the figure revealed by a similar survey in 1999.
Among the leaders were BT, for its Exact monitoring system that helps frail elderly people to continue living in their own homes; France Telecom, for its development of a face-to-face 3D teleconferencing system; and Sony, for its ReCellular coating process that restores old plastic.
However, management consultancy Arthur D. Little, which carried out the study, concludes that although 'sustainability-driven innovation' is important for many companies, most put it low on the 'immediate action list'. Only a handful had fully integrated sustainability factors into product design.
The principal barriers were 'a high degree of internal and external scepticism', worries about the risk of developing new products, a lack of suitable business models, and the industry's innate tendency to use capital 'to produce more of the same in new markets rather than to develop new models'.
The small number of companies leading the way tended to have chief executives with clear vision, a well-articulated set of values and a demonstrated commitment to innovation and sustainability'.
Arthur D. Little says the successful companies tended to focus on 'one or two nuggets of opportunity' in their product range rather than attempting to apply the principles of sustainability more widely - and that one of the best ways to make progress is to deliberately recruit individuals with an active interest in sustainability aspects.
Despite the lack of substantial activity, the study found that almost two-thirds of the companies in the study felt that developing 'sustainability-driven' products had the potential to increase profits. A similar proportion said demand from consumers for such products would be a 'very important' driver during the next five years.
The companies, surveyed between June and September 2004, were in Germany, Italy, Japan, Switzerland, the UK and the US - and included huge brand names such as Dupont, HP, Motorola, Procter & Gamble, Sony and Vodafone.
Justin Keeble, head of Arthur D. Little's UK sustainability services, said most of the businesses in the study were 'broadly speaking, open to the concepts of sustainability', but many were only 'dabbling' and had yet to do the work needed 'to integrate it into their business'.
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