| Cradle to Cradle Certified™ is recognized as a preferred product certification by many leading brands, organizations and sustainability standards, including LEED, US EPA, WELL Building Standard, etc.
The Cradle to Cradle Certified™ Product Standard guides designers and manufacturers through a continual improvement process that looks at a product through five quality categories — material health, material reutilization, renewable energy and carbon management, water stewardship, and social fairness. A product receives an achievement level in each category — Basic, Bronze, Silver, Gold, or Platinum — with the lowest achievement level representing the product’s overall mark.
Product assessments are performed by a qualified independent organization trained by the Institute. Assessment Summary Reports are reviewed by the Institute, which certifies products meeting the Standard requirements, and licenses the use of the Cradle to Cradle Certified™ word and design marks to the product manufacturer. Every two years, manufacturers must demonstrate good faith efforts to improve their products in order to have their products recertified.
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Established in 1992 and recognised across Europe and worldwide, the EU Ecolabel is a label of environmental excellence that is awarded to products and services meeting high environmental standards throughout their life-cycle: from raw material extraction, to production, distribution and disposal. The EU Ecolabel promotes the circular economy by encouraging producers to generate less waste and CO2 during the manufacturing process. The EU Ecolabel criteria also encourages companies to develop products that are durable, easy to repair and recycle.
The EU Ecolabel criteria provide exigent guidelines for companies looking to lower their environmental impact and guarantee the efficiency of their environmental actions through third party controls. Furthermore, many companies turn to the EU Ecolabel criteria for guidance on eco-friendly best practices when developing their product lines.
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| The Nordic Ecolabel was established in 1989 by the Nordic Council of Ministers with the purpose of providing an environmental labelling scheme that would contribute to a sustainable consumption. The Nordic Ecolabel has a life-cycle perspective. Important environmental issues that are considered in the development of the Nordic criteria are:
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Energy usage
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Climate aspects
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Water usage
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Source of raw materials
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Use of chemicals
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Hazardous effluents
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Packaging
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Waste
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| The "Austrian Ecolabel" was created on the initiative of the Federal Ministry of Environment in 1990. This label provides the general public with information on the environmental impact of consumer goods that arises from their production, usage and disposal and attracts the attention of consumers to alternative environmentally friendly products.
The products and/or services for which guidelines have been drafted are subject to a holistic evaluation. In this context not only the environmental effects of the use of a product or a service but also the production process, disposal as well quality and fitness for use ("lifecycle") are recorded. The following points can be considered to be the basis for evaluating the environmental compatibility of products:
- Consumption of raw materials and energy
- Toxicity of ingredients
- Emissions (e.g. exhaust gases, sewage, noise)
- Disposal/recycling (waste, suitability for recycling)
- Packaging
- Distribution and transportation (as required)
- Quality, safety, longevity, ease of repair.
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| 'die umweltberatung' is an Austrian organisation whose experts support and advise companies and institutions with the implementation of environmentally friendly measurements. Those measurements include prevention of waste, greater economic efficiency and ecological and efficient cleaning. One of the services of die umweltberatung is the “ÖKO-REIN-POSITIVLISTE”. An economic and sustainability list for eco-friendly detergents and its criteria evaluate the effects of products on environment and health. They were implemented together with the Austrian ecology institute, the IFZ Graz and the non-profit consumer organisation “Verein für Konsumenteninformation” (VKI).
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| www.greenseal.org |
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Green Seal Certified
Founded in 1989, Green Seal provides science-based environmental certification standards that are credible, transparent, and essential in an increasingly educated and competitive marketplace. Their industry knowledge and standards help manufacturers, purchasers, and end users alike make responsible choices that positively impact business behavior and improve quality of life. Green Seal provides science-based environmental certification standards that are credible, transparent, and essential in an increasingly educated and competitive marketplace. Green Seal's evaluations are based on state-of-the-art science and information using internationally recognized methods and procedures.
Green Seal's standard-setting process is open, collaborative, and fair. They have many built-in checks that ensure they are unbiased, realistic, and that the products they certify reach high levels of performance and quality. Products only become Green Seal certified after rigorous testing and evaluation, including on-site plant visits. The Green "Seal of Approval" has come to stand for reliability, fairness, and integrity.
Meeting Green Seal Standards
- Independent non-profit Organization
- Science-based environmental Certification
- Product Focus
- Effect of Individual Ingredients Diluted is considered
- Very High Product Performance Standard
- Includes Strict Labeling and Packaging Requirement
- Favors Dilution Control Systems
- Narrow Range of Product Categories
Documentation:
♦ Green Seal Certificate
♦ Green Seal Letter
♦ Green Seal Floor Care
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| http://www.ecologo.org/en/ |
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Canada's Environmental Choice
EcoLogo is North America’s most widely recognized and respected certification of environmental leadership, setting standards and certifying products in more than 120 categories. There are currently more than 7,000 EcoLogo-certified products from hundreds of manufacturers. For buyers, EcoLogo is a tool to find, understand, and trust genuinely “green” products. For marketers, EcoLogo is a third-party endorsement, a sales tool, and a marketing program. By helping the buyers and sellers of genuinely green products find one another, EcoLogo rewards environmental leaders and helps shift the marketplace toward sustainability. Launched by the Canadian federal government in 1988, EcoLogo is North America’s oldest environmental standard and certification organization (and the second oldest in the world). It is the only North American standard accredited by the Global Ecolabeling Network as meeting the international ISO 14024 standard for Type I (third-party certified, multi-attribute) environmental labels.
EcoLogoM certification criteria documents (CCDs) are developed in an open, public and transparent process, with a broad base of stakeholder participation including user groups (e.g. procurement associations, institutional purchasers and consumer protection organizations), product producers (e.g. industry members and associations), government / regulators, general science-based representatives (e.g. academics, life cycle experts and other scientists), environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs), and other environmental advocates. The criteria address multiple environmental attributes related to human health and environmental considerations throughout the life cycle of the product. Currently, there are 122 Certification Criteria Documents addressing over 250 product types.
Meeting Ecologo™ Program Standards
- North America's Most Stringent Standard
- Third-party certification of environmentally-preferable products
- Focus on Protection of Water Resources
- Very High Product Performance Standard
- Includes Strict Labeling and Packaging Requirement
- Strict Standards for an Extensive Range of Raw Materials
- Ongoing Maintenance after initial certification
- Wide Range of Product Categories
Documentation:
♦ Carpet & Uphostery Cleaners
♦ Hard Surface Cleaners
♦ Paint & Varnish Care
♦ Environmental Choice Welcome Letter
♦ Environmental Choice Certification
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| http://www.geca.org.au/index.html |
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| Australia's Good Environmental Choice
(LN: ECP-2010)
Good Environmental Choice Australia (GECA), a not-for-profit organisation, exists to reduce environmental harm by promoting the production and consumption of environmentally preferable products and services. The Environmental Choice Australia ecolabel, launched in November 2001 provides to the community and commercial markets an environmental mark of recognition for a wide range of products and services.
The Good Environmental Choice Label is the only environmental labelling program in Australia which indicates the environmental performance of a product from a whole of product life perspective for consumer goods. The label is awarded to products that meet voluntary environmental performance standards which have been created and assessed in conformance to international environmental labelling standards. The program is internationally recognised and growing in demand and awareness throughout different industries.
Documentation:
Environmental Assurance of Green Concepts Products
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