The roots of ecolabelling are found in the growing global concern for environmental protection on the part of governments, businesses and the public. As businesses have come to recognize that environmental concerns may be translated into a market advantage for certain products and services, various environmental declarations, claims and labels have emerged, such as natural, recyclable, eco-friendly, low energy, recycled content, etc. Governmental, industry, NGO, investor and consumer efforts and awareness will serve as 5 key driving forces of sustainability in the months and years ahead.

1. Sustainability & Textiles
Eco labels
By : Ravikeerthi Rao
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2. Sustainability
• There is a great global concern for environmental protection
on the part of governments, businesses and the public.
• Due to this concern, there is growing demand amongst the
customers for the eco-friendly products.
• Consumers are increasingly looking for products that are
better for them and for the environment, may it be eatables,
beauty products, shopping bags or even clothing.
• This growing public concern is the base for origin of ecolabels.
• Fashion brands are producing more responsibly by the day,
and the proof is in the certification.
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3. Sustainability
So, What is Sustainability?
• Sustainability is the ability to meet the needs of the present
without compromising the ability of the future generations to
meet their own needs.
• Sustainability is a journey of continuous improvement that
touches every aspect of the business, from :
– reducing energy consumption,
– water usage and waste at production sites to developing new products
with excellent performance and a smaller footprint.
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4. Sustainability
• Sustainability has moved from the corners and edges of the
many industries over the past few years to take its place as a
primary concern as executives have come to realize that not
only can it curb negative impacts on the environment, but
more responsible practices can also drive :
– transparency in their organizations,
– create efficiencies in their processes, and
– insulate them from risk.
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5. Sustainability
• Beyond protecting firms against potential consumer backlash,
sustainability efforts also signal to investors that steps are
being taken to insulate against myriad threats like drought or
floods or even a future in which the raw materials of today
are much less plentiful.
• This, investment communities interest is sure to fast forward
progress.
• Governmental, industry, NGO, investor and consumer efforts
and awareness will serve as 5 key driving forces of
sustainability in the months and years ahead.
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6. ecolabelling
• Any product which is made, used or disposed of in a way that
significantly reduces the harm, it would otherwise cause, to
the environment, is considered as Eco-Friendly.
• In sustainable / eco friendly clothing, the production
processes involved are considered to be of less harmful to the
environment, enhances employee & product safety, while
conserving energy and natural resources.
• Such clothing is made without the use of pesticides, fertilizers,
chemicals, genetic modifications and, may be recycled.
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7. ecolabelling
• Initially, commercial enterprises, mostly in developed
countries, recognised that environmental concerns could be
translated into a market advantage for certain products.
• To encash on this sentiment, a number of environmental
declarations and claims emerged, on & in association with
certain products.
• These included labels with such claims as "eco-friendly",
‘organic”, "recyclable", "low energy", and "recycled content“,
etc.
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8. ecolabelling
• These claims and labels have attracted consumers who are
looking for ways to reduce environmental impacts through
their purchasing choices.
• The growing popularity of environmentally friendly products
has caused the multiplication of ecolabels.
• The risk of misusing labels, or misinterpreting their quality
and features is real.
• (https://globalecolabelling.net/assets/Uploads/intro-to-ecolabelling.pdf)
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9. ecolabelling
Greenwashing
• Unproven or irrelevant claims have been branded
"greenwash".
• Essentially, it is intentionally misleading wording or
information that means virtually nothing or is irrelevant in
context to the product .
• Depending on the type of greenwashing, it is not illegal.
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10. ecolabelling
• The Federal Trade Commission (USA) issued “Green Guides”
that are designed to help marketers ensure that the claims
they make about the environmental attributes of their
products are truthful and non-deceptive.
• "Green Guides" -Will Help Marketers Avoid Making
Misleading Environmental Claims
• (https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2012/10/ftc-issues-revised-
green-guides)
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11. ecolabelling
• Without guiding standards and investigation by an
independent third party, consumers could not be certain that
the companies' claims guaranteed that each labelled product
was an environmentally preferable alternative.
• This concern with credibility and impartiality led to the
formation of private and public organisations providing third-
party labelling, such as GOTS, OCS, Ecomark, Blue Angel, etc.
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12. ecolabelling
• EcoLabels have been around for four decades now - the first
label, the Blue Angel, was created in 1978 by the German
Federal Ministry for Interiors.
• The labels popularity has been on the rise in recent years.
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13. Eco-friendly vs Organic
• Eco-friendly fabric also usually refers to products that
contribute to green living or practices that help save resources
like water and energy.
• In addition, eco-friendly products avoid contributions to air,
water and land pollution.
• Eco-friendly fabrics are made from fibres that require little or
no pesticides to grow.
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14. Eco-friendly vs Organic
• While organic fabrics can be eco-friendly, eco-friendly fabrics
aren’t always organic.
• Organic fibres are cultivated without pesticides, chemical
herbicides or synthetic fertilizers that can be harmful to the
environment. In order for a fabric to be considered organic, it
must meet strict guidelines in regards to how the fibre is
processed, produced, dyed and handled.
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15. ecolabelling
• The sustainability and organic labels are very country-specific,
with little or no international harmonization.
• Every region and country has a different approach, with
regulations either drawn at a governmental level or managed
by non-profit organizations.
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16. ecolabelling
• Today, several types of environmental labelling exist –
including those which are differentiated into groups and
classified by the International Organization for
Standardization (ISO) (ISO Type I, II & III) .
• The ISO 14024 "Environmental labels and declarations - Type I
environmental labelling - Principles and procedures" is a guide
for the organization, selection of products, and the setting,
publication and control of criteria of ecologically oriented
labels.
• ISO Type I labels are often referred to as eco-labels.
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17. ecolabelling
• “Certification schemes” or “ecolabelling” share the same
characteristics as ISO Type I labels but often are :
– focused on specific impacts (i.e. energy consumption, agricultural
practice), and
– applied only to a specific sector (i.e. energy-using appliances,
agricultural commodities) based upon life cycle considerations.
• (https://www.unenvironment.org/explore-topics/resource-efficiency/what-we-
do/responsible-industry/eco-labelling)
• Today, Ecolabelling is being implemented in more than 30
countries and there are already around 150 different
ecolabels
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18. Ecolabelling - Ecomark
• The Indian government launched “Ecomark”, a voluntary
ecolabelling scheme, in February 1991 with the earthen pot
as the symbol.
• Issued by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), ECOMARK is a
certification for household and other consumer products
which are ecologically safe and conform to the standards
prescribed by the BIS.
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19. Ecomark
• Ecomark is being issued in around 16 categories like food,
medicines, chemicals, electronic goods, paper, lubricating oils,
packing materials etc.
• The purposes of the mark is to encourage consumers to buy
more eco-friendly products while also incentivising
manufacturers to reduce the negative environmental impacts
of their products.
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20. Ecolabels
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21. References:
• https://www.ungm.org/Areas/Public/Downloads/Env_Labels_Guide.pdf
• http://www.ecolabelindex.com/ecolabels/?st=category,textiles
• https://www.ams.usda.gov/grades-standards/organic-labeling-standards
• http://www.ecolabelindex.com/ecolabels/?st=category,%20food
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