Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
examine one of the world's most mature ecolabelling programmes to explore how
it has developed over time.
1.7.1
The Blue Angel
The world's oldest operating ecolabel is the Blue Angel programme, which origi-
nated in Germany and now is more widely accepted and operates throughout Eu-
rope. The Blue Angel programme has developed ecological standards for a range
of products (although not seafood), and developed and applied a system of product
endorsements relevant to the product concerned. The Blue Angel programme op-
erates through the decisions of an Environmental Label Jury, which assesses and
awards labels to complying products based on an independently developed standard
and set of criteria.
The Blue Angel is a public-private partnership (Muller 2002) that was created
in 1977 to promote environmentally sound products, relative to others in the same
group categories. This ecolabel relies on voluntary information and cooperation,
as well as on the motivation and the willingness of each individual to make a
contribution towards environmental protection. The Blue Angel is addressed at all
market players to enable retailers and consumers to make deliberate choices in
favour of environmentally sound alternatives. Once approved, Blue Angel ecola-
belled products are reviewed every 2 or 3 years to reflect state-of-the-art develop-
ments in ecological technology and product design. Seventy-one product groups
have been identified, with over 4000 individual products approved by the Umwelt-
bundesamt (German Environmental Protection Agency), the official assessment
agency. The process is managed by RAL - the German Institute for Quality As-
surance and Certification. The Environmental Label Jury - composed of industry,
environmental associations, trade unions, churches and public authorities - scruti-
nises product groups twice yearly. The criteria for awarding the Blue Angel include,
for example, the efficient use of fossil fuels, alternative products with less of an
impact on the climate, reduction of greenhouse gas emission and conservation of
resources.
The Blue Angel ecolabel has a high level of recognition amongst consumers -
57% of respondents to a consumer survey in Germany were aware of the
Blue Angel (http://cordis.europa.eu/data/PROJ FP5/ACTIONeqDndSESSIONeq
112362005919ndDOCeq485ndTBLeqEN PROJ.htm) and nearly half of all Ger-
man consumers surveyed pay attention to the label when making their purchas-
ing choices (http://www.blauer-engel.de/englisch/navigation/body blauer engel.
htm). But despite a high level of industry and government engagement with the
development of the product recommendations, there appears to be few documented
analyses (see below) of the contribution that the ecolabel has made to improve the
environment in Europe or Germany.
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