Public authorities created eco-labels in order to provide consumers with guarantees on the level of ecological quality of a given product or service. Requested on a voluntary basis, an eco-label can provide manufacturers, distributors or service providers with a valuable means of differentiating themselves from the competition.
All eco-labels must have the following six characteristics, described in the international standard (adopted by the European Union and France) (NF EN) ISO 14024 (2001):
- a definition of specific requirements: eco-label specifications (or guidelines) include a set of criteria, linked to thresholds to be complied with, that cover both the limitation of a product's environmental impacts and fitness for its intended use. Eco-labels refer to standards governing the fitness for use of products, whenever these standards exist in the relevant product category;
- factoring in the product's entire life cycle: studies are performed to analyse the product's impact on the environment, from extraction of raw materials right up to end-of-life, through all the intermediate stages including production, distribution and use.
The resulting environmental requirements are thus specified for all products within a given category, based on a multi-stage and multi-criteria approach;
- consultation: the process of developing eco-label criteria must involve all the stakeholders, i.e. trade representatives such as manufacturers, distributors and service providers, plus consumer and environmental protection associations and public authorities;
- open access: any potential applicant must be able to contribute to the process of developing eco-labels, and any business that meets the criteria for a given eco-label is authorised to use it;
- regular review of eco-label requirements: this is essential to guaranteeing an eco-label's continued selectivity (it must single out the best products in terms of both operational and environmental performance). This review factors in scientific progress and technological advances, and spurs continuous improvement of product environmental performance;
- third-party certification: eco-labels are managed and awarded by independent third-party bodies who conduct regular on-site audits of certified businesses to ensure their products and services conform with the eco-label criteria governing the relevant category. Additional product or service inspections are also conducted on a regular basis.
