SUSTAINABILITY
Environmental Labels and Declarations, ISO 14021
About Environmental Labels and Declarations, ISO 14021
ISO 14020 series standards, “Environmental Labels and Declaration”, are international standards convey information on environmental aspects of a product or service to the market.
Three different types of environmental labels and declarations have been standardized:
- Type I for Ecolabelling programs (ISO 14024, 1999)
- Type II self-declared environmental claims (ISO 14021, 1999)
- Type III environmental product declarations (ISO/TR 14025, 2000)
All types of environmental labels and declarations encourage supply of and the demand for products and services that cause less stress on the environment.
Why it matters
Based on the international standard, ISO 14021, regulations on the use of environmental terms and symbols are introduced in many parts of the world. These regulations are applicable to domestic products and imported products and have the potential of being used as trade barriers or trade facilitations for businesses.
Organisations adopting and implementing ISO 14021 as its environmental evaluation and labelling of products use it as a form of protective environmental strategy.
Implementing and complying with ISO 14021, organisations achieve their goal of ecolabelling by:
- informing on the superior standard of environment-friendly parameters of its products and services
- creating greater confidence internally and externally, that their environmental claims are consistent with existing standards, codes and guidance
- encouraging their consumers to buy and use these products and services, which are better, as compared to competitive products, for their positive impact on environment
- strengthening its reputation and credibility with consumers and other business partners