Eco-products
Two official ecological labels have been created to enable consumers to recognise the most environmentally friendly products with the best guarantees:
the French NF Environment mark and the European eco-label (recognised in the 27 countries of the European Union).
The objectives of official eco-labels are as follows:
- promote the design, sale and usage of products with reduced impact on the environment throughout their lifecycle;
- inform consumers of the environmental impact of the products.
Both official eco-labels are issued by the French Standardisation Agency (AFNOR). The use of an eco-label can be requested voluntarily by the industrial companies interested, if their products comply with the labelling criteria:
- these criteria are defined by product category: they guarantee product usage compliance as well as the limitation of their impact on the environment
- they are based on an analysis of the products’ lifecycle (from the extraction of raw materials to the end-of-life processing of the products)
- they are adopted following a consultation with producers, distributors as well as consumer and environmental protection associations
- they are reviewed every three years.