A smaller price to pay for footprint labels
Rewind five years
In June 2013 the European Commission (EC) began a project to harmonise the eco-labelling of products.
The Single Market for Green Products initiative has proposed two options to measure environmental performance: the Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) and the Organisation Environmental Footprint (OEF) (see The next step ).
What is this for?
The aim is to simplify green labels for consumers and producers. According to the researchers working on these new schemes, 59% think that existing product labels do not provide enough information and 48% think that they aren’t clear.
To make matters more complicated there are currently numerous schemes in operation. So if you want to put a product on sale in more than one EU country, you may have to make use of more than one scheme. The new project will solve this by cutting the standards to just two.
Fact finding
27 trials of the OEF and PEF methods have been conducted by 260 volunteer companies and other organisations in a range of sectors.
These include: animal feed, dairy products, pasta, copper as a raw material, and tech products like solar panels, smartphone batteries and electric cars.
The impacts covered climate change, water, toxicity and resource use. In April 2018 the EC published a report on the results of these pilots (see The next step ).
Note. Of the 27 pilots, 14 have been completed on time. A further nine are nearing completion, whilst four presented “specific technical challenges” that have resulted in delays. Although all the results aren’t in, findings have been presented.
Is this a good idea?
Despite some technical glitches along the way, the trials indicate that using these new labels will save a great deal of time, money and effort for producers. In addition, consumers should be presented with information that will be simpler to understand.
When?
The rules for the PEF and OEF will be submitted to the EC in August 2018 and then guidance for different sectors will be drafted.
It will therefore be a while before we see these methods being used on labels. We will update you as soon as these schemes are ready.
Tip. In the meantime, don’t let this stop you from promoting the green credentials of your products. Make sure you use a reputable organisation such as the Carbon Trust or another approved method (see The next step ).
For a link to the initiative website and for further information on carbon labelling products, visit http://tipsandadvice-environment.co.uk/download (EN 13.01.06).
Create your profile to unlock this advice and many more.