|
|
|
|
ECOLABEL:THE TOOL |
The Eco-label award scheme, established by Council Regulation (EEC) No. 880/92 of 23 March 1992, as revised by Regulation (EC) No. 1980/2000 of 17 July 2000, is a voluntary environmental and industrial policy tool aimed at promoting and marketing products with a reduced environmental impact (environment friendly).
The European Eco-label certifies products, which have a reduced environmental impact through their entire life cycle. The label accordingly provides consumers – who are increasingly willing to play an active role in environmental protection and preservation – with easily identifiable information on the product’s compliance with specific Community requirements, the so-called ‘environmental criteria’. These criteria are laid down following extensive consultations with all interested parties, ranging from the industrial sector to national governments to environment and consumer protection organisations.
In a complex market, consumers can exercise their purchasing power, for instance, by giving preference to those products that use respect for the environment as a competitive tool. Of course, the growth of general awareness for the environment has also resulted in some cases of improper ‘green marketing’. We are bombarded almost daily with information about and ecological labels of ‘green products’ that are sometimes quite environmentally unfriendly. In order to catch the eye of the more demanding and well-informed consumer, attractive advertising and the so-called ‘green claims’ are widely used. To regulate this situation, several Green Claims Codes are in the process of being drafted, especially at the European level, but not without some difficulty.
Confused by contradictory and unclear messages, the consumer generally doesn’t have access to the requisite tools to help him objectively assess the product’s ecological features. The EU Eco-label scheme is such a tool, a credible information source validated by technical studies and, as mentioned above, set up on the basis of a transparent consultation procedure. Therefore, the Eco-label can be an important factor of development and competition. According to this ‘environmental marketing’ approach, the use of the label is granted after the manufacturer makes an investment to obtain the ecological qualification for its product. In Italy, the Comitato Ecolabel-Ecoaudit, the Italian Eco-label Competent Body, is charged with awarding the use of the Eco-label. |
|
|
|