Green Labels

8/6/2019 Green Labels

1/47

Green labeling

What is it?Its significance

Its limitations

Green seals


2/47

Eco-labelling schemes help consumers make

decisions about the products they buy and

whether they are environmentally friendly. There

are several existing eco-label schemes aroundthe world including the German Green Spot, the

Nordic Swan and the US Green Seal. Most

current eco-label programs are cradle to grave,

that is, they involve some form of analysis basedon the environmental consequences of their

manufacture, use and disposal.


3/47

Labels serve the purpose of allowing consumersto make comparisons and informed choices fromamong products and or services in the category

Environmental labels focus primarily onconsumption rather than production of goods

organic labels specify a particular productionmethod without necessarily requiring the proof of

environmental improvement Eco labels communicate the environmentalimpacts over the life cycle of the product fromcradle to grave


4/47

Eco-labelling makes a form of positive

statement that identifies a certain product

or service as less harmful to theenvironment than other similar products or

services


5/47

Eco-labels can cover a range of environmental

attributes, which may include health issues,

atmospheric impacts or other environmental

impacts, packaging and other industial issues toname few. Labels allow consumers to make

comparisons among products/services in the

category and essentially vote their preferences

in the market when making purchasingdecisions.


6/47

An eco-label is a graphic symbol and/or a

short descriptive text applied on a product,

package, or inserted in a brochure or inanother informative document that

accompanies the product and offers

information about at least one and at most

these environmental impacts generated bythe respective product.


7/47

Eco-labels belong to the class of "newenvironmental policy instruments" (NEPls)together with voluntary agreements, eco-taxes

and tradable permits. Eco-labels may be distinguished by whether

they are government sponsored or managed bythe private sector. Currently, there is no

universal standard for eco-labels. To date,approximately 28 countries have establishednational eco-labelling programs. A large numberof these are voluntary.


8/47

Trademarks and symbols for green productcertifications and labels are everywhere: productpackaging, manufacturers Web sites, printadvertising and trade show booths.

The names are probably familiar: Greenguard,Green Seal, ENERGY STAR, EnvironmentallyPreferable Products, Smart Wood, Green LabelPlus, to name a few. But for facility executives

hoping to use these green certifications andlabels as one of many criteria for productselection, its important to understand both whatthey are, and what they are not.


9/47

What the green certifications, otherwise known

as eco-labels, do is verify that a product meets

specific standards. They offer a third-party

validation, a way to determine a products greenqualifications. Because any green certification or

label is voluntary, green product certifications

are showcases for manufacturers genuinely

interested in being taken seriously by facilityexecutives who want to purchase products with

verified green claims.


10/47


11/47


12/47

100% Green Electricity - 100%

Energia Verde

The certification in Italy is issued for energy producedfrom wind, PV, solar thermal, geothermal, sustainablehydro, tidal & waves, biogas and sustainable biomass &bio-fuel plants. The certificates does not cover energy

from fossil fuels, nuclear and thermal transformation ofsolid urban wastes. Nevertheless it is admitted to yieldthe 20% of the energy production from water pumpingand

=


13/47

Built Green

Built Green promotes and recognizeenvironmentally responsible residential homeconstruction and renovation with four standardsor labels. Rating levels are linked to the labels.

Members and home buyers have the flexibility ofchoosing their level of participation, therebyoffering broader appeal. Bronze represents theminimum of achievement level, Silver is the nextlevel, and Gold is the third


14/47

Cleaning Industry Management

Standard (CIMS)

CIMS is an organizational Standard andcertification program that applies tomanagement, operations, performance systems,and processes. The Standard is divided into six

areas of management best practices: Qualitysystems; Service delivery; Human resources;Health, safety, and environmental stewardship;Management commitment; and Green Building(GB). Certification demonstrates that a cleaning

organization


15/47

AIABBio Fibre

The label covers all

textile products and

pre-products madewith natural fibres.


16/47

BetterCotton Initiative

The Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) is a voluntary

program that aims to establish global principles

and criteria for cotton growers and retailers. The

programme intends to be applied throughregionally specific implementation strategies and

tools and is complementary to Certified Organic

and Fairtrade cotton. The BCI standard calls for

phasing out pesticides categorized as WHOClass I, ensuring water


17/47

CarbonFreeCertified

The CarbonFree Product Certification label is

aimed at increasing awareness of product

emissions and recognizing companies that are

compensating for their carbon footprint. Thelabel was created in response to the growing

market for eco-friendly products, and consumer

demand for transparent, credible and readily

accessible information at the point of purchase.By determining a products carbon


18/47

CarbonNeutral

CarbonNeutral is the registered trademark of

The CarbonNeutral Company and is a global

standard to certify that businesses have

measured and reduced their CO2 emissions tonet zero for their company, products, operations

or services. Permission to display the

CarbonNeutral mark is only given to clients

whose carbon reduction programme isimplemented in accordance with The

CarbonNeutral Protocol.


19/47

Carbon Reduction Label

The Carbon Reduction Label is a public

commitment that the carbon footprint of a

product or service has been measured and

certified and the owner of the product or servicehas committed to reduce that footprint over the

following two years. The footprint that has been

calculated will have been rigorously measured

and be comparable based on the PAS2050standard and Footprint Expert(TM). This will


20/47

Carbon Trust Standard

The Carbon Trust Standard is a certification

mark of excellence, designed to recognise

organisations for real carbon reduction. Toqualify, organisations must measure, manage

and genuinely reduce their carbon footprint and

commit to reducing it year on year. Benefits of

achieving the Standard include: - Independent

validation of your environmental credentials -

Meet increasing consumer demand


21/47

Cradle to Cradle Certification

Cradle to CradleSM Certification providesa company with a means to demonstrateefforts in eco-intelligent design. Cradle to

CradleSM Certification is a third-partysustainability label that requiresachievement in multiple areas: * usematerials that are safe for human health

and the environment across their lifecycles * product and system design formaterial reutilization, such as recycling


22/47

Degree of Green

The Degree of Green(R) rating program aims at

helping consumers by rating products and

explaining those ratings in clear language. At thecore of Degree of Green are data sheets that

detail the environmental, health and

sustainability attributes of various products. A

top rating of 4 goes to products that have: - theleast adverse effects on human health - the

highest level of environmental


23/47

Design for the Environment

(DFE)

The Design for the Environment SaferProduct

Labeling Program advances EPA's mission to

protect human health and the environment. The

program uses EPA's chemical expertise andresources to carefully evaluate products and to

label only those that have met the program's

highly protective standards. By allowing use of

the logo on products, EPA empowersconsumers and commercial purchasers to select

safer,


24/47

EcoLogo

Founded in 1988 by the Government of Canadabut now recognized world-wide, EcoLogo isNorth Americas largest environmental standard

and certification mark. EcoLogo providescustomers public, corporate and consumer with assurance that the products and servicesbearing the logo meet stringent standards ofenvironmental leadership. EcoLogo certifies

environmental leaders covering a large variety


25/47

Ecomark: India

A government operated seal of approval

program for environmentally preferable

consumer products. To increase consumer

awareness, the Government of India launchedthe eco-labelling scheme known as `Ecomark' in

1991 for easy identification of environment-

friendly products. The criteria follows a cradle-to-

grave approach, i.e. from raw materialextraction, to manufacturing, and to disposal.

The


26/47

Ecoproof

The label is for textiles, especially textiles

made from cotton. The products have to

meet certain criteria throughout their entire

life cycle, including environmental

performance, the abolition of child labour

and a reduction of negative effects on

human health.


27/47

Eco-Living seal

The eco-living seal is a private label forLivingDirect, an online retail company, specializinginconsumer appliances, indoor air quality

products, and lawn and gardenfurniture. theeco-living seal is awarded to products that meeteco-friendly standards and are certified byEnergy Star, RoHS, and HEPA.


28/47

EU Ecolabel

A voluntary scheme designed to

encourage businesses to market products

and services that are kinder to the

environment and forEuropean consumers

- including public and private purchasers -

to easily identify them.


29/47

Fair Labor Practices and

Community Benefits

Social responsibility certification to complementOrganic FairLaborPractices and CommunityBenefits certification developed by ScientificCertification Systems (SCS) in conjunction withkey stakeholders validates socially responsiblepractices in agricultural production andprocessing. Complementing organic and otherenvironmental certifications, FairLaborPracticesis deisgned to meet the


30/47

Fair Trade

Fairtrade aims to reduce poverty by facilitating apartnership between producers, businesses andconsumers. Fairtrade offers producers a better deal andimproved terms of trade, allowing them the opportunity to

improve their lives and plan for their future. Fairtradealso gives consumers a powerful way to reduce povertythrough their everyday shopping. When a product carriesthe FAIRTRADE Certification


31/47

Flower Label Program (FLP)

FlowerLabel Program (FLP) is an associationcarried by human rights organisations, tradeunions, flower traders and producers. It

guarantees socially and environmentallyresponsible conditions in worldwide flowerproduction by using the instrument ofcertification. Producers who produce accordingto the criteria of FLP standard may sell their

flowers with the so called "flower label". This oneis


32/47

Global Organic Textile Standard

The Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) wasdeveloped by leading standard organizations with theaim to unify the various existing standards and draftstandards in the field of eco textile processing and to

define world-wide recognised requirements that ensureorganic status of textiles, from harvesting of the rawmaterials, through environmentally and sociallyresponsible manufacturing up to labelling


33/47

GoodWeave

GoodWeave is working to end illegal child labor in the

carpet industry and to offer educational opportunities tochildren in South Asia. Through its monitoring and

inspections program, GoodWeave is helping to combatthe problem of exploitative child labor and to transformthe handmade rug industry by certifying child-labor-freerugs and providing education and opportunities torescued and at-risk children.


34/47

Green BusinessCertification

The Green Business Bureau's Green businesscertification is a program that helps companiesimplement environmentally responsible practicesin the workplace and gives them visibility for

doing so. Members become certified andrecognized for their positive environmentalimpact. The program has three tiers, dependingon points achieved for activities: "aware"; "gold"and "platinum". Companies can


35/47

Green Label & Green Label Plus

(Carpet)

Carpets, carpet pads, and adhesives identifiedwith the Green Label emit no more thanallowable levels of TVOCs, formaldehyde, and a

few other substances. The Green-Label-Pluslabel (launched in 2004) sets a higher standardfor IndoorAir Quality and ensures thatcustomers are purchasing the very lowestemitting products on the market.


36/47

ISO 14001

An internationally accepted specification for an

environmental management system. It specifies

requirements for establishing an environmental

policy, determining environmental aspects andimpacts of products/activities/services, planning

environmental objectives and measurable

targets, implementation and operation of

programs to meet objectives and targets,checking and corrective action, and

management


37/47

Label STEP

The STEP label is awarded to handmadecarpets that are produced according to fair tradestandards, including ensuring fair conditions ofproduction; paying fair prices to ensure fair

wages; fighting abusive child labour; promotingecologically viable production methods; andauthorising independent verification. The label isnot applied to individual products but toimport/export companies. All handmade

G


38/47

LEED Green Building Rating

System

The Leadership in Energy andEnvironmental Design (LEED) GreenBuilding Rating System encourages and

accelerates global adoption of sustainablegreen building and development practicesthrough the creation and implementationof universally understood and accepted

tools and performance criteria.


39/47

NATURTEXTIL

"Naturtextil BEST" is a holistic standard. Itvalues enviromental and social criteria along thewhole textile pruduction chain. Mainrequirements are: 100% certified organic fibers,

restricted fiber prosessing methods (bleaching,chlorination, mercerization etc.), limited range ofdyes and auxiliaries, no input of hazardoussubstances (e.g. formaldehyde, PCP, TCP,heavy metals, AOX and many more),


40/47

OE-100

Organic Exchange has two standards:OE 100:Certifies products made with 100% organic fiberthat have been tracked through the productionchain and segregated to prevent commingling

with other fibers.OE Blended is for tracking anddocumenting the purchase, handling and use ofcertified organically farmed cotton fiber inblended yarns, fabrics and finished goods. Thestandard applies to all goods that


41/47


42/47

On-Pack Recycling Label

The [OPRL](http://oprl.org.uk/) on-pack labelling

scheme operates in the UK to provide a

standard consumer recycling label, which is

simple, consistent, evidence led and providessufficient information to make it easy for

consumers to recycle more packaging, more

often. Over 100 brands and retailers are using

the labels on over 60,000 product lines and thecornerstone of the label; the Recycle


43/47

Planet Positive

Planet Positive is a mark of accreditation to the

Planet Positive Protocol. The Protocol requires

four steps: measuring, reducing, acting and

reporting on GHG emissions. Planet Positivecertifies businesses, products, events or people

commit to taking positive action by either

donating to community projects, or offsetting into

verified carbon projects. Businesses andorganisations are assessed


44/47

Recycled Content

Generic symbol used to show recycled content;also sometimes used to indicate that the productcan be recycled. Does not mean that the producthas been certified.In the US, the Federal Trade

Commission gives the following guidance: Arecycled content claim may be made only formaterials that have been recovered or otherwisediverted from the solid waste stream, eitherduring the manufacturing process


45/47

TerraCycle

TerraCycle runs national waste collection programs in

10 countries where non-recyclable post-consumer waste(used candy wrappers, tooth brushes, pens, juice

pouches and many other categories of waste) iscollected and made into new products and materials.The TerraCycle logo informs a consumer that theproduct or package is no longer waste, and can becollected and sent (postage paid) to TerraCycle.


46/47

WaterSense

Products bearing the WaterSense label

are generally 20% more water-efficient

than similar products in the marketplace

and must be independently tested before

qualifying for the label.


47/47

Zque

Zque fibre combines natural performance

wool with an accreditation program thatensures environmental, social and

economic sustainability, animal welfare

(non-mulesed) and traceability back to the

source.

Green Labels

Documents