High speed data transport, e.g., might allow for extreme simplification of home appliances, homes being connected to nets of servers with data and programmes. The tools for analysing such deep changes are still to be developed, at least operationally, but guidelines for this development may be specified. For firms markets and costs ultimately decide their future. Extra market demand for environmentally improved products is limited. It is one factor in the good name of firms' brands, and is related to employee's morale and the firm s status with regulators.
Costs is a mixed item.
To some extent, cost reduction and environmental improvements may coincide. Where this is not, or not fully the case, other motives are involved. Apart from demand factors government policy makers create incentives. Measures like take back requirements are one way to create incentives, next to more traditional command and control techniques and financial incentives. Markets being global, the role of product requirements is limited, mostly related to waste management.