Sustainable Product Development: NATIVA’s Framework for Innovation

Against a backdrop of increasing regulatory pressure, evolving market expectations, and increasingly evident economic, environmental, and social crises, companies are being called upon to radically rethink the way they design, manufacture, and distribute their products.

A manufacturing company that wants to generate a positive impact must, in fact, place the sustainable development of its products at the center of its strategy: without direct attention to these aspects, engaging in other areas of impact becomes secondary, merely a “facade.”

To truly evolve toward sustainability, a company must therefore transform its product: a more complex journey, but one with significantly greater (and communicable) potential that allows for improving not only the product and its quality but also its overall impact, generating lasting value. An opportunity to touch the company’s DNA and improve it for the better.

Working toward sustainable product innovation can create various opportunities for companies to:

Comply with European regulations on product innovation and anticipate changes

Today, products are subject to an increasingly complex set of regulations governing their quality, safety, and social and environmental impacts—a framework that is set to expand further, at least in Europe, in the coming years.

Consider directives and regulations governing the circularity, reparability, and traceability of products, with which companies must comply, such as:

• Empowering Consumers Directive aims to combat greenwashing and, starting September 27, 2026, will regulate environmental claims and sustainability labels for B2C companies, requiring businesses to provide information on the durability and repairability of their products.
• Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation, which establishes ecodesign requirements that must be met starting in 2026 by nearly all categories of physical goods placed on the EU market.
• Digital Product Passport, which starting in 2027 introduces a digital identity card that will provide consumers and authorities with relevant information on the sustainability, circularity, and legal compliance of products.
• European Deforestation-free Products Regulation (EUDR): which, starting in 2026, prohibits the placing on the EU market of products linked to deforestation (e.g., cocoa, coffee, wood, soy).

Anticipating future regulatory requirements is essential to avoid being caught unprepared and incurring extra costs. However, if these obligations are addressed without a strategic vision, there is a risk that they will become nothing more than a cost.

Adopting a strategic approach to product sustainability not only makes the process less stressful but also helps increase the economic, social, and environmental value generated by the transformation.

Creating economic, social, and environmental value through sustainable product innovation

Evolving with a strategic approach over the medium and long term helps companies operate more effectively—not just in terms of compliance: it enables them to drive innovation and implement processes that generate market value. No company would complain about investing in opening a factory: it is infrastructure that produces goods and, with them, profits—therefore an investment. Investing in sustainable product innovation contributes to:

• Creating more efficient processes that can reduce waste and lead to better economic results
• Experimenting with lower-impact materials and processes that also help prevent disruptions or shocks in the supply chain
• Developing greater awareness of market and consumer demands, generating competitive advantages

According to the study “Rethink: Why sustainable product design is the need of the hour,” sustainable product design initiatives have a positive impact on financial results (higher revenue growth rates for 73% of companies and a greater ability to attract capital for 75% of firms) and increase customer satisfaction and employee engagement.

Furthermore, it is no longer conceivable today for a company to operate in a way that harms people or the environment, as also stated in Article 42 of the Italian Constitution. Companies have the opportunity to help solve the major sustainability challenges of the 21st century through their economic activities, by choosing to generate shared value across their entire ecosystem.

Beyond footprint mitigation: leaving a positive handprint

In a regenerative paradigm, mitigating negative impacts is not enough to create a sustainable product—we must take action to foster a positive impact.

When discussing sustainability, the concept of a footprint—the negative impact to be minimized—often comes to mind. Calculating and reducing one’s footprint is merely the starting point.

At NATIVA, we propose going further by focusing on the handprint: the intentional, positive impact we can choose to leave behind.

Positive impacts do not happen by chance, but only because we decide to create them intentionally.

The manufacturing sector has unique potential in this regard: a product can become a vehicle for positive impact—for the company, for those who use it, for those who distribute it, and for the system as a whole.

Companies that adopt a handprint approach stand out:

• They don’t just mitigate
• They transform the product into a generator of environmental, social, and economic benefits
• They empower others in their ecosystem to do the same, reaching beyond their own gates and influencing and enabling third parties to generate value for people and the planet.

A practical method based on 13 years of experience

Working with sustainability in mind means integrating it into the business plan, taking future developments into account, and involving internal departments and all key stakeholders.

Adopting a strategic and intentional approach is essential for building a solid and successful path forward.

The NATIVA framework stems from over 13 years of experience in guiding Italian and international companies toward sustainable product development.

At NATIVA, we have helped design or improve over 100 products, working with companies such as Geox, OVS, Furla, arena, Fratelli Carli, Kerakoll, Slowear, and FABA with the goal of:

• Improving quality
• Reduce their negative impacts
• Amplify their positive impacts

The three key activities of our framework: impact assessment, design, and implementation

The framework is based on academic studies and research processes applied to the business world.

It allows not only for the assessment of impacts but also for the design and implementation of sustainable product development.

In fact, it can guide companies:

• from impact accounting, to identifying hotspots, to developing digital tools for sustainable design
• in providing operational support to designers and product managers in selecting priority materials and solutions
• in promoting a systemic transformation, which starts with the product and involves the supply chain, customers, and employees

The goal is to enable product evolution, creating value for the company:

• By involving key figures in the company’s product team
• Ensuring that a product is sustainable “by design”
• Following an approach focused on the creation of integrated economic, social, and environmental value
• Working not only to mitigate impacts but also to generate positive impacts.

A multidisciplinary team for real transformation

Our team is composed of a mix of advanced technical expertise and a multidisciplinary perspective: engineers (materials, environmental), physicists, chemists, and other sustainability experts, who enrich projects with new insights and innovative solutions.

Find out how NATIVA supported the analysis and evolution of FABA+, Italy’s best-selling toy in 2024, toward a higher standard of environmental and social sustainability.

Would you like to learn how we can support your company on a path toward sustainable product evolution? Would you like tailored consulting to assess the current state of your products and their development potential? Contact us!