Hazardous substances and Ecolabels benefit of Ecolabels for consumer safety

Transcription

1 Seminar of the Baltic Environmental Forum: Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals and other hazardous substances in consumer goods and their impacts to human health Hazardous substances and Ecolabels benefit of Ecolabels for consumer safety Ökopol - Institut für Ökologie und Politik (Hamburg, Germany) Dr. Olaf Wirth 26./27. March 2014

2 What is an ecolabel? Examples (taken from labels-online provided by an initiative of the German consumer and The Greenwashing Index is promoted by EnviroMedia Social Marketing in partnership with the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication. )

3 Types (Basis ISO series ff.)! Environmental labels and declarations -- General principles ISO 14020:2000! TYPE I - ISO 14024:1999 a voluntary, multiple-criteria based, third party program that awards a license that authorises the use of environmental labels on products indicating overall environmental preferability of a product within a particular product category based on life cycle considerations! TYPE II - ISO 14021:1999/ISO 14021:1999/Amd 1:2011 informative environmental self-declaration claims! TYPE III - ISO 14025:2006 voluntary programs that provide quantified environmental data of a product, under pre-set categories of parameters set by a qualified third party and based on life cycle assessment, and verified by that or another qualified third party

4 Comparison of environmental claims Type Type I (classic Label: EU-Ecolabel, Nordic Swan, Blue Angel Multiple Parameters Life cycle consideration Selectivity Third party verification Type II / / Type III (LCA and similar)

5 General construction of Type I Ecolabels Product group Various parameters Determined by life cycle consideration by Printers, household cleaners, lubricants, toilet paper etc. Chemical content, Chemical environmental fate, recycling material content, energy use (production, use), raw material production (e.g. forestry, social standards), production phase What parameters distinguish the product in the market (best products with regard to the parameter) Third parties involved 3 Parties involved in process which are independent: Criteria development, e.g. scientific institution, authority (Joint Research Centre-JRC, German Federal Environmental Agency-UBA) Decision on criteria (EU-Commission, Jury Umweltzeichen) Awarding of label (RAL-Germany, competent bodies)

6 Variety of Ecolabelled products (example Blue Angel) Innovative products photovoltaic prod., small-scale fired co-generation mod., car-washing facilities, wood-pellet heaters Services e.g. car-sharing, shipping operation, wet cleaning, Energy-Conscious Data Centers Special env. relevant products IT-products, gas & fuel oil heaters printing & publication paper, construction materials, deco-paints, lubricants, adhesives Consumer products paper products, batteries, wall-papers, packaging, gardening, furniture, upholstery, mattresses, floor covering 11,700 products and services in circa 125 product categories carry the Blue Angel ecolabel suppliers have concluded a Contract on the Use of the Blue Angel. 22 percent of them are foreign suppliers. (As of: 05/03/13)

7 EU-Ecolabel Products

8 EU-Ecolabel across Europe Historically other labels better known to public? Blue Angel since 1978 (Germany) Nordic Swan since 1989 (Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Iceland)

9 And in your country?

10 Competent Bodies of the Baltic countries Estonia Latvia Lithuania Liisi Liivaid Ministry of the Environment Narva mnt 7a Tallinn tel: (+372) fax: (+372) Ms Hedi Leomar The Estonian Environment Information Centre Mustamäe tee 33 ES Tallinn tel: (+372) fax: (+372) Ms Iveta Jegere Head of Division for Environmental Screening State Environment Bureau 23, Rupniecibas Str. LV-Riga LV-1045 Tel: Fax: Ms.Milda Račaitė Head of division Environmental Impact assesment and Polution Division Environmental Protection Agency LT-Vilnius tel: fax:

11 General Product-Requirements Price / Performance Produce ability Innovation Quality Product Safety Funktionality Environment Health Chemicals

12 Reasons why one does not fit all... Questions to the Life cycle approach:! When in life cycle do environmental impacts occur?! Which are these?! Are there products on the market which have a better environmental performance then others of the respective product group?! What is the level of protection? And the general answer is: Differs!...based on:! type of a product (chemical mixture, solid article, electrically driven )! User group (professional user, private consumers, adults, children...) SPECIFIC CRITERIA ARE DEFINED IN A MULTI STAKEHOLDER PROCESS Source: EU-Commission websit on EU ecolabels

13 Specific Ecolabels and hazardous substances! EU-Ecolabel only label based on a legal framework* (Regulation (EC) No. 66/2010)! Strong general requirements on hazardous substances laid down in Article 6 (6) and (7) of the regulation! Guiding approach also for other labels like the Blue Angel, Nordic Swan,! usually minimum requirements in these labels,! derogations mostly lead to stricter rules,! sometimes decorations are made which are weaker due to technical discussions possible as not based on legal framework The basic requirements in the Regulation are at the moment very ambitious for some product groups! Note: requirements are voluntary add on they do not replace general compliance with other legislation (e.g. REACH, Toy directive, etc.) * In the non-food sector, the EU-BIO label for food also based on a legal framework

14 The legal requirement and interpretation! According to Article 6(6) of the EU Ecolabel Regulation no EU ecolabel may be awarded to goods containing:! substances fulfilling the SVHC criteria defined by REACH Art. 57 or! substances classified as toxic, hazardous to the environment, carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic for reproduction (CMR) according to the Regulation (EC) No. 1272/2008 (CLP) what this means is defined at the moment on an European level at the joint research centre of the Commission, basic scope is that only minor health and environmental hazard classifications are allowed for ecolabels products. Note: completly hazard based no risk conciderations!! According to Article 6(7) of the EU Ecolabel Regulation derogations are possible from Art. 6(6) for substances not identified on the REACH candidate list under the conditions that:! substitution is technically not feasible! goods have a significantly higher overall environment performance than other goods of the same category.! Candidate substances are excluded with a threshold of 0.1 % in articles or homogenous parts of an article

15 fulfilling the SVHC criteria! Criteria are:! carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic to reproduction (CMR) Article 57 a-c! Persistent, Bioaccumulative and Toxic (PBT) or very Persistent and very Bioaccumulative (vpvb)! Substances of equivalent concern, these are at the moment:! Respiratory sensitisers! Endocrine disrupters (ED)! Fulfilling does not mean ECHA/EU-Member States already have formally identified the substances as SVHC:! CMR and sensitizers can be often directly identified by their classification (set of H-phrases und Regulation (EC) Nr. 1272/ CLP)! This is not the case for PBT/vPvB and ED as no corresponding hazard category exists under CLP especially this is a problem for EDC as the tests listed in CLP for classification do not meet the special requirements of these substances! Candidate listing of (suspected) ED can be used to eliminate such substances from ecolabelled products (first substances already listed as suspected endocrines)

16 Questions with regard to EU-Ecolabel process Ambition of the EU-Ecolabel regulation is very high, though! Is a threshold of 0.1% in consumer goods sufficient for ED?! What is the reference (homogenous) article/part? 0.1% with reference to the complete article can be a lot in at a certain spot within the article! Will substances be banned from products if not yet on candidate list and no classification available (as is true for most suspected ED even more there are still criteria missing to decide on when a suspected ED is one or not)?! In which cases derogations will be granted if substances are not on candidate list?! From a practical perspective, does the approach work for all types of products? Some of these issues can only be solved on a case by case level in the negotiation process among the stakeholders (Industry, competent bodies, environmental and consumer associations)

17 Summary! Ecolabels can help to give consumer orientation on products with a better environmental performance as other comparable products of the group (Type I labels)! Public promotion of ecolabels and its claims is necessary to generate knowledge and trust in the value of a label! Ecolabels are an voluntary add on, they do not replace general compliance with all existing legislation (REACH restrictions, Toy directive, waste legislation etc.) they do not replace an effective market surveillance! Some Ecolabels have very ambitious approaches with regard to hazardous substances and can help consumers to avoid products with high levels of such substances! Support and involvement in the stakeholder processes is important to facilitate high ambition with regard to the criteria of the EU-Ecolabel (national authorities and NGOs)

18 Questions? Dr. Olaf Wirth Ökopol GmbH Institut für Ökologie und Politik (Institute for Environmental Strategies) Nernstweg D Hamburg Tel: +49(0) Fax: +49(0)