Environmental labelling

Summer trials

This summer, France will launch a nationwide trial to prepare for the rollout of environmental labelling of consumer products, a voluntary commitment that it has taken under
the Grenelle Environmental Forum.

By changing their purchasing habits, consumers have the power to encourage companies to manufacture products that are better for the environment. But to do this, they must be able to see and compare the environmental impact of what they buy. France has therefore committed, under the Grenelle Environmental Forum, to begin labelling environmental information on consumer goods and services. This should build consumer awareness, by guiding them in making purchases, and thereby encourage changes to the way manufacturers produce goods. To prepare for the rollout of this system under the best possible conditions, ADEME and Afnor have compiled a reference method that defines the general standards of environmental labelling (BPX 30-323) and the first guidelines by product category (at most 10 per methodology). And, in accordance with the provisions of the Grenelle 2 law, a nationwide trial of at least one year will be launched on 1 July of this year. Following a call put out last November by the Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development, Transport and Housing, more than 230 companies volunteered to take part in the experiment. Of these, 168 have been accepted. The resulting panel is representative of the diverse French economy, as it includes VSEs and SMEs along with large industrial groups, as well as both producers and distributors (general and specialist). These companies operate in a variety of sectors: food and beverage, textile and clothing, furniture, building and DIY materials, cleaning and personal care products, and printing and publishing. Beginning July 1, they will instate multi-criteria labelling covering the entire life cycle of their products and packaging. In addition to noting greenhouse gas emissions from the manufacture, distribution, use and end-of-life of both the products and their packaging, the environmental “ID card” displayed will also show the products’ impacts on the natural environment (water, biodiversity, air, etc.) and/or their consumption of natural resources. Each class of product will show the most relevant indicators according to its composition, method of production and use. The trial is designed to test how to calculate products’ ecological costs and how companies might display these facts. Still, the specifications leave it up to the participating companies to decide how best to display the information in a manner that clearly informs the consumer.

ADEME’S ROLE
ADEME was consulted by the Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development, Transport and Housing for the trial specifications and candidate selection phases. “We are still working on defining the method standards that will be useful for the trial and essential for rolling out the system later on”, explained Édouard Fourdrin, Engineer with the ADEME’s Eco-design and Sustainable Consumption Department. “For reliable environmental information, each class of product must display standard indicators that have been calculated consistently. To achieve this, ADEME is steering the ADEME-Afnor unit compiling the environmental assessment methods for each class of products. Since September 2008, this unit has been validating the work carried out by experts, professionals and consumer and environmental associations under a collaborative approach. Using best practice standards that define the general principles of environmental labelling, the working groups concentrate on developing indicators and calculation methods applicable to each class of products.” At the same time, ADEME is compiling a public database of all generic data needed for product life cycle analysis (LCA).
The results of the trial should contribute to the expansion and adjustment of these tools, as well as feed into the European environmental labelling project, which is also under development (see box).

IN FRENCH
www.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/experimentation-affichage

affichage-environnemental.afnor.org

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