Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Ecolabelling
Ecolabelling
ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
Environmental
Management System
Environmental
Environmental
Performance Evaluation
Auditing
Environmental
Management
LCA, DfE n
Auditing n Ecolabel
EMS
EPE
Focus: Organisation Focus: Products
What is Ecolabelling?
• "Ecolabelling" is a voluntary method of
environmental performance certification and
labelling that is practised around the world.
• An "ecolabel" is a label which identifies
overall, proven environmental preference of a
product or service within a specific
product/service category.
Purpose of Eco Labels
Their purpose differs based on the intended user:
• For businesses: they provide a way to measure
performance and also communicate and market
the environmental credentials of products.
• For consumers: they guide their purchasing
decisions by providing information about ‘the
world’ behind the products.
• For governments: these tools encourage the
behavioural change of producers and consumers
towards long‐term sustainability.
Types of Labels under ISO 14020 family
• ISO Type I labels (often referred to as an “ecolabel”)
identify overall environmental preference of a product
(i.e. good or service) within a product category based
upon life cycle considerations.
• In contrast to a self‐styled environmental symbol or
claim statement developed by a manufacturer or
service provider, an ecolabel is awarded by an
impartial third party to products that meet
environmental leadership criteria.
• They are also multi‐criteria and multi‐sectoral. E.g.
Blue Angel (Germany), EU Flower (European Union),
Ecomark (India), Nordic Swan (Scandinavian countries)
etc.
Ref: UNEP website
The principles of this standard (ISO
14024) include the following stipulations
•: Environmental labelling programmes should be voluntary
• Compliance with environmental and other relevant
legislation is required
• The whole product life cycle must be taken into consideration
when setting product environmental criteria, e.g. extraction
of resources, manufacturing, distribution, use and disposal
relating to relevant cross‐media environmental indicators.
• Any departure from this comprehensive approach or
selective use of restricted environmental issues has to be
justified
The Blue Angel
• https://www.blauer‐engel.de/en
• initiated by the German government
and awarded by an independent Jury
to products that are environmentally
friendlier than others serving the
same use.
• Each label specifies that the product
or service focuses on one of four
different protection goals: health,
climate, water, and resources.
• The Federal Ministry for the
Environment Nature Conservation and
Nuclear Safety is the owner of the
label
SIRIM Eco‐Labelling Scheme
• Under SIRIM QAS International Eco‐
Labelling Scheme, a product will be
independently tested and verified against
preset criteria before the organisation is
allowed to use SIRIM QAS International’s
Eco‐Labelling mark on its product,
packaging and promotional materials.
• is a marketing tool which will enable a
company to position its product as an
environmentally‐friendly product.
• ISO Type I‐like (often referred to as
certification schemes or sustainability
labelling) share the same characteristics as
Type I but often are focused on specific
impacts (e.g. energy consumption, agricultural
practice) and applied only to a specific sector
(energy using appliances, agricultural
commodities). E.g. FSC, MSC, organic labels,
Rainforest Alliance.
• Rainforest Alliance – green
economy through sustainable
farming etc
• FSC –Forest Stewardship Council
• MSC – Marine Stewardship
Council
• Stewardship is an ethic that embodies
the responsible planning and
management of resources. The
concepts of stewardship can be applied
to the environment, economics, health,
property, information, theology, etc.
Type I labels – ISO 14024
• ISO Type II is self‐declared environmental
labels (often a single attribute, sometimes a
company’s own environmental logo).
• ISO 14021:1999 is the International Standard
that deals with so‐called self‐declared claim
Requirements for all self‐
declared environmental claims
The basic requirements for all claims are that they shall be :
• Accurate and not misleading
• Substantiated and verified
• Unlikely to result in misinterpretation
• The standard also states that vague or non‐specific
claims, which broadly imply some environ‐mental benefi
t, shall not be used.
• Examples of such claims include “ environmentally
friendly ”, “ green”, “ nature’s friend ”
• ISO Type III is a product declaration that
provides more detailed quantitative
information of products. It takes the form of a
matrix and similar to declarations of
nutritional characteristics of products. Based
on full LCA
http://www.ecoleaf‐jemai.jp/eng/data/EcoleafGuideline_ver.1.pdf
ISO 14025:2006,Environmental labels and
declarations – Type III Environmental
declarations – principles and procedures
Such declarations :
• Are based on independently verified life‐cycle assessment
(LCA) data, life‐cycle inventory analysis (LCI) data, converted
LCI data to reflect the life‐cycle impact assessment (LCIA) of a
product or information modules in accordance with the ISO
14040 series of standards and, where relevant, additional
environmental information are developed using
predetermined parameters
• Are subject to the administration of a programme operator,
such as a company or a group of companies, industrial sector
or trade association, public authorities or agencies, or an
independent scientific body or other organization