European Commission

Eco-label criteria

A voluntary (Eco-)label scheme lays down environmental criteria for a certain product and allows the producer who complies with those criteria to apply a symbol/label which certifies this compliance.  In principle, the producer will be allowed to appose the label only following preliminary inspection by certified third parties.

International/European/national product standards

A product standard is a universally agreed upon set of guidelines for interoperability, meaning a document, established by consensus and approved by a recognised body that provides rules, guidelines or characteristics of products and services such as computers, construction material, or cleaning products.

International bodies include the International Standardisation Organisation ISO, the International Electrotechnical Commission IEC, or the International Telecommunication Union ITU.

There are also several regional European standardisation bodies such as CEN (European Committee for Standardization), CENELEC (European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization), ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute), and the IRMM (Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements).

In addition, each country or economy usually has a single national standards body (NSB). The ISO website provides a list of recognised NSBs.

Companies may apply international/European/national standards during the production process. The compliance to a recognised standard has to be verified either through self-declaration or through a third party certification.

Third party verification

The term third party refers to an entity that conducts evaluations or verifications on an independent, neutral basis for first and second parties. In the environmental context, this typically translates into the following:

• First party: Corporation / Facility
• Second party: Local community / Public/ Regulator/ Any other external stakeholder
• Third party: An environmental expert agency (certifier / verifier / assessor)

The primary objective of a third party assessment / verification is to authenticate

• information being made available by a corporation / facility (concerning the product it produces for instance);
• corporate claims of having achieved a specified level of performance.

In addition, it also serves the function of providing specialised and trained expertise for evaluations/ assessments.

A multitude of Accredited Certification Bodies offer ISO certified third party verification. These organisations are qualified by a national authority to perform audits to a standard (e.g. ISO 14000) and to verify that an audited facility meets the requirements for the respective standard. A list of national authorities can be found on the website of the European co-operation of Accreditation.

ISO and environmental labelling

Environmental labels are ‘brands’ placed on certain products. They allow consumers to choose those which have been recognised as less harmful to the environment. Eco-labels are voluntary schemes based on specific environmental criteria. They are open to all businesses and awarded in a non-discriminatory manner.

Environmental labels

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has identified three broad types of voluntary labels:

• Type I – Eco-Labels
• Type II – Self-declared environmental claims
• Type III – Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs)

• Type I environmental labelling

  According to ISO-14024, Type I environmental labelling is

  "a voluntary, multiple-criteria based, third party program that awards a license which authorizes the use of environmental labels on products indicating overall environmental preferability of a product within a particular product category based on life cycle considerations."

  Nowadays, most recognised environmental labels for products and services are based on this ISO standard, amongst others the EU Eco-label.

  The EU Eco-label

  Products with the EU Eco-label “The Flower” have certified good environmental quality and guaranteed technical performance. Any product bearing this recognised Eco-label had to undergo thorough test procedures by certified third-party institutions and thus verifies its compliance with green criteria.

  Products with the EU Eco-label

  • Have certified good environmental quality and guaranteed technical performance
  • Have a lower environmental impact on air, water, soil and human health throughout its life cycle, from raw material extraction to end-of-life
  • Often present the added value advantage of lower than average costs

  Easy green procurement with the Flower

  • No expert knowledge is required for the application of the EU Eco-label.
    
  • The Flower is fully compatible with the principles of the Internal Market.
    
  • Products that comply with the technical requirements and their manufacturers can easily be recognised.
  
  Additional information can be found on the eco-label subsection of this website.
  
  
• Self Declared Environmental Claims - Type II
  

  Self-declared environmental claims (also ‘Green Claims’) became a widespread phenomenon in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Products often carried claims such as ‘environmentally friendly’, ‘CFC free’ and ‘recycled’. This proliferation and the lack of rules and guidance on self-declared ‘green’ claims created a situation in which some environmental claims in the marketplace were misleading, meaningless or simply untrue, which in turn led to a loss of credibility with some consumers.

  ISO eventually developed standard 14021, which specifies requirements for self-declared environmental claims including statements, symbols and graphics on products. The standard specifies requirements for meaningful and non-misleading claims and describes a general evaluation and verification methodology. It also describes selected terms commonly used in environmental claims, and gives qualification for their use.

  Examples of recognised claims include:

  • Use of solar heat
  • Recycled paper
  • Paper from wood free fiber
  • Returnable bottle
    
• Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) – Type III
  

  An environmental product declaration, EPD, is defined as "quantified environmental data for a product with pre-set categories of parameters based on the ISO 14040 series of standards, but not excluding additional environmental information".

  Companies might for example develop an EPD for

  • Clay bricks
  • Bottled red wine
  • Washing machines, or
  • Energy supply

  Key objectives

  The use of EPDs shall encourage the demand and supply of those products that cause less stress on the environment through clear communication of verifiable and accurate product information. This shall stimulate the potential for market-driven continuous environmental improvement. EPDs -

  • provide life cycle assessment-based information and additional information on the environmental aspects of products,
  • assist purchasers and users to make informed comparisons between products (but not being so-called comparative assertions),
  • encourage improvement of environmental performance, and
  • provide information for assessing the environmental aspects of products over their life cycle.

  Advantages

  EPDs are applicable for all types of products and services within clearly defined product categories. They are designed to meet various information needs within the supply-chain and for end-products both in the private and public sector, as well as for more general purposes in information activities and marketing.

  The main advantages of EPDs, for those creating EPDs and providing information on the market, are that they are regarded as being:

  • Objective – through the use of scientifically accepted and valid methods based on international standards for life cycle assessment (LCA).
  • Non-selective and neutral– because no claims of valuations or predetermined environmental performance levels must be met.
  • Flexible - through enabling any change or improvement of the EPD as required by the company/organisation after due external review and verification.

  The main advantages of EPDs, for those using EPD information for various purposes, are that they are regarded as being:

  • Comparable – because the information in EPDs are being collected and calculated based on international accepted and harmonised calculation rules.
  • Credible– through the requirements for routine inspections, review, approval and follow-up by an independent verifier.
  • Accurate - because the information has to be continuously-updated based on in-company routines for documentation and follow-up procedures.

Management System Standards

Management System Standards provide a model to follow in setting up and operating an organisation’s management system.

It includes four main elements:

1. The planning phase, including the identification of all environmental aspects and the establishment of specific goals;
2. The implementation phase, including training of concerned staff and operational controls;
3. Regular monitoring and corrective action
4. Regular reviewing, including progress reviews and the implementation of necessary changes to the EMS.

Larger companies apply Environmental Management Systems to assure their compliance with modern environmental standards. In most cases their environmental performance is verified by independent third parties and the result is published in regular sustainability reports.

The best-known Management System Standard in the field of environment is the ISO standard 14001. It forms the basis for most systems applied by other providers.

The ISO-14000 standard family

A vast majority of ISO-standards are specifically dedicated to a particular product, material, or process. However, the ISO-14000 standards group – in a similar way as the well-known ISO-9000 group which sets requirements for quality management – defines internationally recognised requirements for environmental quality management. They are so called Generic Management System Standards, meaning the same standards can be applied:

• to any organization, large or small, whatever its product;
• including whether its ‘product’ is actually a service;
• in any sector of activity;
• whether it is a business enterprise, a public administration, or a government department.

But,

• ISO-14000 standards only relate to the performance of the company or organisation and NOT to the performance/qualities of the product/service produced by the same company.
• The application of the standard is specific to any company/organisation and therefore contrary to an eco-label which is product specific.
• The standard does not establish any objectively comparable criteria which would allow different companies to be benchmarked against each other. It merely sets a framework for allowing a company to improve, year by year, its own environmental performance.

Benefits

The whole ISO 14000 family provides management tools for organisations to control their environmental aspects and to improve their environmental performance. Together, these tools can provide significant tangible economic benefits, including:

• reduced raw material/resource use ;
• reduced energy consumption ;
• improved process efficiency ;
• reduced waste generation and disposal costs, and
• utilisation of recoverable resources.

Companies or organisations who apply an ISO-14000 standard are subject to thorough conformity assessments by certified third-parties to guarantee their adherence to the international regulations.

Detailed information can be found on the ISO-14000 section of the ISO website.

EMAS – the EU Eco-Management and Audit Scheme

The EU has developed its own environmental management tool EMAS, which is by now the most recognised European environmental management system. Participation in EMAS is voluntary and open to public or private organisations operating in the European Union and the European Economic Area (Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway). An increasing number of candidate countries are also implementing the scheme in preparation for their accession to the EU.

EMAS is based on EN/ISO 14001 but adds several elements to the ISO requirements:

• The systematic, objective and periodic evaluation of the performance of this system
• The provision of information on environmental performance and an open dialogue with the public and other stakeholders, among other things through use of the EMAS logo
• The active involvement of employees in the organisation and appropriate training that makes active participation in the tasks referred to under the environmental management system possible
• Companies and organisations subscribing to EMAS are required to comply with environmental legislation.

Further information on EMAS can be found in the respective EMAS chapter of this website.

Pre-qualification with a vendor qualification system

According to the directives on public procurement, Member States may introduce either official lists of approved contractors, suppliers or service providers, or certification by certification bodies established in public or private law. (Article 52 Directive 2004/18/EC).

Certain companies specialise in procurement matters and offer as one of their services the standardised qualification for procurement legislation – so called vendor qualification systems (VQS).

• Benefits for procurers

VQS help public authorities to comply with EU Procurement Legislation by providing a fair, open and transparent means of selecting suppliers for potential tender opportunities. The Utilities announce their intentions to source through the VQS in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU).

• Benefits for businesses

By standardising the pre-qualification process, registered suppliers benefit from a significant reduction in time and effort associated with completing pre-qualification documents. Through completion of dedicated online questionnaires, suppliers can pre-qualify for work with registered utility companies and their partners.

Verification of compliance with ‘green’ criteria:

Companies may include in their provided information any details on the implementation of accredited or certified environmental management systems, on environmental production methods, the application of environmental standards, the compliance of their products with environmental specifications, or comparable recognised verification aspects. The registered companies may sign up to a certified assessment service to

• Demonstrate their compliance to environmental requirements
• Obtain independent assessment and benchmarking
• Achieve credibility in the market place
• Receive industry specific assessments