The European chemical industry has been very successful in reducing its environmental impact. In ten years, CO₂ emissions per unit of production fell by 44%. Programs have not only helped the industry to meet the requirements of regulators and society at large, they have also been profitable. However, the focus has almost all been on processes to make existing products. This is only a small part of the lifecycle – for many products, there is far more impact in distribution, use or disposal than in manufacture. For many industries the issue of environmental impact of products through their lifecycle is real, live and of immense importance right now. Legislation on toxic materials in electronic equipment has driven a shift to lead-free solder. Energy labeling of consumer durables focuses attention on designing more efficient products. Regulations on recycling of electronic equipment cause manufacturers to reconsider every material they use. At the UK centre for green chemical technology innovation, CRYSTAL has been taking lessons from green product design in other sectors and applying them to the chemistry-using industries. We have developed a process to identify opportunities for new environmental product benefits that meet market needs and will be commercially viable. It is integrated with a company's existing development processes, but encourages a different perspective on the value chain and product features. The presentation will include many examples of green product design, a practical approach to doing it and the strong links to life cycle assessment and sustainability metrics.