Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD)

Design determines impact long before products reach the market.
SSbD embeds safety, sustainability, and performance into decisions from the very start.

1. What Is SSbD — And Why It Matters

Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) is a design discipline, not a compliance exercise.

It ensures that:

• safety risks are reduced at the source

• environmental impacts are minimized across the lifecycle

• sustainability trade-offs are addressed early—when decisions still matter

SSbD shifts sustainability:
👉 from reporting outcomes
👉 to shaping decisions

💡 Why This Matters for Business

Most sustainability challenges are not created during operations.

They are locked in during design:

• material selection

• process configuration

• product architecture

• supply chain choices

By the time products reach the market:
👉 up to 80% of impacts are already determined

SSbD addresses this by moving:

• risk management upstream

• sustainability into engineering

• compliance into design logic

2. The European SSbD Framework (2025)

The European Commission Joint Research Centre (JRC) has developed the most advanced SSbD framework to date.

The revised 2025 framework introduces:

• clearer decision gates

• stronger sustainability criteria

• improved socio-economic integration

• alignment with EU Green Deal, Chemicals Strategy, and Circular Economy policies

🔧 The Three Core Pillars

1. 🔍 Scoping — Defining the System

Before assessment begins, SSbD defines:

• system boundaries (molecule, process, product)

• functional objectives

• decision criteria

• value chain actors

💡 Why it matters:
Without proper scoping, sustainability assessments become irrelevant or misleading.

2. ⚠️ Safety — Integrated Risk Evaluation

Safety is treated as a core design driver, including:

• intrinsic properties (physicochemical behavior)

• hazard and exposure assessment

• process-related risks (temperature, pressure, reactivity)

The framework follows a tiered approach:

• screening → intermediate → detailed

💡 Why it matters:
Safety is not checked at the end—it is engineered into the system.

3. 🌿 Sustainability — Lifecycle & Socio-Economic Impact

Environmental Sustainability (LCA-based)

• climate impact

• resource use

• toxicity

• energy and water consumption

Uses progressive LCA:

• screening → simplified → full LCA

Socio-Economic Sustainability

• supply chain resilience

• critical raw materials

• labor and social impacts

• economic viability

💡 Why it matters:
Sustainability is evaluated as a system, not a single metric.

3. Beyond the EU Framework: Industry & Global Approaches

SSbD is evolving across multiple organizations. Each contributes a piece—but none fully solve implementation alone.

🧩 Key Frameworks and Their Focus

European Commission (JRC SSbD)

• Strongest policy-aligned framework

• Lifecycle-based, structured, and decision-oriented

• Primarily substance and product focused

CEFIC (European Chemical Industry Council)

• Industry-oriented implementation

• Focus on:

  • safety

  • environment

  • society

  • economy

• Strong on trade-off management and decision cycles

OECD SSbD Framework

• High-level, cross-sector guidance

• Emphasizes:

  • tiered risk assessment

  • uncertainty handling

  • multi-criteria decision-making

WBCSD (Portfolio Sustainability Assessment)

• Focus on corporate portfolio decisions

• Benchmarking and scoring sustainability performance

• Less focused on engineering design

EU Nano Safe-by-Design Frameworks

• Advanced risk assessment logic

• Strong for:

  • materials

  • exposure modeling

• Limited scalability to complex process systems

⚠️ The Gap

Most frameworks are:

• substance-focused

• product-oriented

• or portfolio-level

They struggle with:

• process-level risks

• system integration

• operational complexity

At Abaeco Consultants, we extend SSbD into real engineering systems.

The BioSSbD framework is an example of a taylored approach for bio-based systems such as biorefineries, that we have developed.

🔬 What Makes BioSSbD Different

Biorefineries and bio-based systems introduce:

• biological uncertainty

• feedstock variability

• tightly coupled processes

• cascading failure risks

Standard SSbD frameworks:
👉 do not fully address these dynamics

🔧 Our Approach

We integrate:

• process safety engineering (FMEA, HAZOP, FTA)

• inherent safety principles

• life cycle assessment (ISO 14040/44/67)

• techno-economic analysis (SASWROIM)

• Total Quality Management (TQM)

• continuous improvement (PDCA cycle)

🔄 A System, Not a Checklist

Our BioSSbD framework:

• embeds safety and sustainability into design decisions

• integrates them into operations and continuous improvement

• connects engineering with business performance

4. From SSbD to BioSSbD — Our Engineering Approach

5. How SSbD Creates Competitive Advantage

SSbD is not just about compliance.

It is a strategic advantage.

🚀 What Organizations Gain

• Reduced redesign costs

• Faster regulatory approval

• Lower operational risk

• Stronger market positioning

• Better alignment with EU regulations

• Increased resilience in supply chains

💡 The Key Shift

Companies that succeed with SSbD:

Do not ask:
👉 “Is this compliant?”

They ask:
👉 “Is this the right design decision?”

6. How We Support You

We don’t implement SSbD as a checklist.

We embed it into how your organization designs, decides, and operates.

Our Services

✔ SSbD Design Review

Identify risks and sustainability gaps early in development

✔ Decision Integration

Embed SSbD into stage-gate and innovation processes

✔ Circular & Lifecycle Alignment

Ensure SSbD supports circular economy and Scope 3 reduction

✔ Custom Framework Development

Adapt SSbD to your products, processes, and industry context

7. A Final Thought

Safety and sustainability cannot be inspected into a product.

They must be designed into it.

And the organizations that understand this will not just comply with the future 👉 they will define it.