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Consumer products and the environment: green labels and claims

Types of labels

Green labels are not always easy to define, and there is no simple way of categorising all green labels according to what they cover. But the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has developed a classification system for environmental product claims and labels, based on the nature of the claim:

  • ISO 14024 is for what are known as Type I claims - declarations which meet criteria set by third parties (not by the manufacturer or retailer themselves), and are based on life cycle impacts, like the EU Ecolabel and national ecolabelling schemes. These are award-type labels. As they require the product to meet independently set criteria, they should in theory be fairly demanding, but this depends on how strict the criteria are, and on the body which controls the criteria.
  • ISO 14021 covers Type II claims, which are manufacturers' or retailers' own declarations, sometimes called “green claims”. These can be useful, but much depends on the type of claim that the manufacturer or retailer makes.
  • ISO 14025 is for Type III claims, which consist of quantified information about products based on life cycle impacts (or Environmental Product Declarations – EPDs). Type III claims should enable products to be compared easily, for example for public procurement purposes, because they consist of quantified information about aspects such as energy output.

The many studies of these different types of labelling systems include one in 2000 for the European Commission by Charles Allison and Anthea Carter on ISO Type II and III labels, now on the studies page of the Commission’s website.

Several international voluntary organisations exist to coordinate information about each type of labelling system and to promote good practice, and they can provide further advice. These include GEN (the Global Ecolabelling Network), for Type I labels; and GEDnet (the Global Type III Environmental Product Declarations Network) for Type III labels. For more information on the latter, visit EPD (the international site for Environmental Product Declarations).

Less formally, the following categories can also be useful as a way of differentiating the different types of labelling scheme. Some schemes fit into more than one of the following categories, and the categories themselves are not mutually exclusive - a sector-specific label may be a valid Type I ecolabel, for example - but these categories may be helpful to consumers:

  • Ecolabels (here used to mean schemes for a wide range of products)
  • Energy labels (which focus on the energy impacts of products)
  • Sector-specific labels (which apply to one kind of product, like textiles)
  • Organic labels (which cover food, drink and other products)
  • Food labels (including drink)
  • Social and "wider world" labels (which primarily address specific ethical or environmental issues associated with the places where products are sourced)
  • Green claims (Type II labels in the ISO classification above).

There are many variations.  Some large companies use a range of labels, or have their own company-specific labelling schemes, such as Philips’ Green Flagship.

Current trends include moves to reflect the carbon footprint of products on labels, and to develop new environmental labelling for food.

Frequently asked questions

Q1. There’s no UK labelling scheme for the product I make (or service I offer) – what can I do?

A1. Defra’s electronic guidance note Pitching Green suggests how to make the most of your product’s green credentials, even if it is not covered by the Ecolabel.

Q2. Where do retailers obtain blank Energy Labels for products?

A2. It’s not for retailers to enter this information themselves on blank copies of an Energy Label – it’s the responsibility of the relevant product supplier (usually the manufacturer or the manufacturer's authorised representative in the UK) to ensure that an Energy Label containing specific information relating to a particular model currently on the market is supplied to retailers with each such model. (Product suppliers should make sure that the label to be used does not include the flower symbol of the European Ecolabel unless the specific model has been awarded the Ecolabel under the rules of that scheme.)

Retailers experiencing difficulties in obtaining labels for a particular model from the relevant supplier should contact:

  • the Association of Manufacturers of Domestic Electrical Appliances (telephone 020 7405 0666, email: info@amdea.org.uk) for domestic fridges, freezers, fridge-freezers, washing machines, electric tumble dryers, combined washer-dryers, dishwashers and electric ovens;
  • the Federation of Environmental Trade Associations (telephone 0118 940 3416, email: info@feta.co.uk) for domestic air conditioners; or
  • the Lighting Industry Federation (telephone 020 7793 3020, email info@lif.co.uk) for light bulbs.

Page last modified: 15 August 2008
Page published: 11 October 2005

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs