Some goods and services may cause harm to people or ecosystems, either because of the way they are designed, or because there is a chance that users could misuse them or dispose of them incorrectly.
The company must make potential users aware of such risks, to empower them to make well-informed decisions regarding the purchase, use and (in the case of physical goods) post-use processing of its products.
In addition, a company must ensure it markets its products honestly and responsibly by avoiding all misleading claims regarding product benefits, and by only targeting appropriate customer groups (e.g. not marketing cigarettes or alcohol directly to children).
These requirements cover both final products designed for end users, and interim goods which are incorporated or processed into final products by other companies.
To be Future-Fit, a company must do three things:
- It must ensure users are informed about any negative impacts of its products;
- It must ensure users are not subject to false or misleading claims about the benefits of its products; and
- It must ensure products are marketed only to those capable of making informed purchasing decisions.