Ql. What is an environmental label ?
Al. Environmental labels and declarations provide information about a product's overall environmental character or its impact on the environment.
Q2. What does it cover ?
A2. There are three types of environmental labels:
Type I-Labels are voluntary, multiple criteria-based and awarded by a third party (private or governmental) to products within a particular category, such as the Green Label scheme in Singapore administered by the Ministry of Environment.
Type II-Self-declared claims of manufacturers, importers, distributors, retailers or other persons likely to benefit from such claims. Examples of such claims are that the product is recyclable; has recycled content; is energy-efficient; designed for disassembly; or is biodegradable.
Examples of Type 11 Labels:
Recyclable:
The two formsof MobiusLoop
Has recycled content
Type III-Quantified product information labels based on preset indicators which are derived from findings of a Life Cycle Assessment ( LCA ). LCA assesses the environmental impact of a product from 'cradle to grave'.
A Type III Label:
Q3. Why is environmental labelling important ?
A3. In the last few years, there has been an increasing number of national standards on environmental labelling. There are now about 20 national and non-government organisations who have initiated environmental labelling schemes worldwide. This include developing countries like Brazil, India and the Republic of Korea.
Differing national labelling schemes could be potential barriers to trade as they could cause market access difficulties for exporters, particularly in developing countries. For instance, a report from the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) revealed that a textile labelling scheme from a European country requires exporters from developing countries to use artificial dyes which are available only to their domestic producers. This requirement precludes the use of environmentally-friendly natural dyes from other countries.
With these concerns in mind, ISO proceeded to develop environmental labelling standards to ensure that environmental labelling programmes would be accurate, verifiable, transparent and would not be unnecessary obstacles to trade. However, the ISO standards do not define a uniform labelling scheme but set out guidelines to ensure that national programmes operate in an open and non-discriminatory basis.
Q4. What is Life Cycle Assessment ( LCA) ?
A4. LCA is the process of analysing a product's environmental impact - energy and material use, water, air and soil contamination - during its whole product life cycle from 'cradle to grave'. This analysis includes the different phases of resources extraction, production, distribution, use and consumption, and disposal. ISO is currently developing LCA draft standards that define general requirements for conducting LCAs and reporting their results. The purpose of LCA is to pin-point specific stages in a life cycle which contribute significantly to the burden on the environment. Hence, improvements in these stages would yield the greatest benefit to the environment. At its simplest level, a LCA study can be a listing of the environmental outputs pertaining to a product or process.
LCA is important in decision-making when choosing alternative raw materials and recycling strategies. Without LCA, such decisions could unwittingly cause adverse effects to the environment, as an improvement at one stage may result in an increased environmental burden at other stages. An example is disposable diapers which were thought to be environmentally-friendly, but studies show that they do not biodegrade easily when buried deep in landfills.
Q5. What are the concerns over the use of LCA ?
A5. One of the criteria in the ISO environmental labelling draft standards is to promote LCA as a means to assess a product's environmental impact. The use of ISO environmental labelling standards, when fully developed, would have the potential to be used as a trade barrier as LCA is technically difficult and costly to implement, and developing countries are likely to lack the necessary expertise to conduct LCAS.
Furthermore, LCA-based environmental labels might have qualifying criteria based on 'non-product-related process and production methods (NPR-PPMs*)' Singapore, as an export-oriented economy, needs to pay close attention to developments in this area. A simple example of a product based on NPR-PPM is a pencil derived from an environmentally sustainable forest. A consumer cannot differentiate between this pencil and one that is derived from a forest that is not managed in an environmentally sustainable manner.
Q6. What is the role of the Environmental Management Technical Committee of the Singapore Standards Council ?
A6. Singapore's Environmental Management Technical Committee (EMTC) has made the monitoring of the development of ISO's Environmental Labelling and Life Cycle Assessment standards a priority. It is currently participating actively in the ISO working groups where the respective standards are being developed. Members from the EMTC who are experts in these areas would represent Singapore's views during these international meetings.
The Asean countries collectively drafted a resolution which received overwhelming support in its final form by many developed and developing countries. The resolutions advocates 'a formal and high-level working relationship between ISO / TC 207 and the World Trade Organization (WTO)* Committee on Trade and Environment to ensure that Two's principles of free trade are taken into consideration in the standardization process'. This will help to ensure that international standards comply with multilateral trade rules and do not become barriers to trade.
Industry is being kept informed of developments in the standards through industry for and industry publications.
This is a WTO terminology. The WTO is an international forum for governments to negotiate free trade rules with the view to removing trade barriers and resolution of trade disputes
Lim Lee Fang, PSB, Singapore
