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EcolabelEcolabel is a labelling system for consumer products (also food stuff) that are made in fashion to avoid detrimental effects on the environment. Usually both the precautionary principle and the substitution principle are used when defining the rules for what products can be ecolabelled. Many (but not all) ecolabels are not directly connected to the firms that manufacture or sell the ECOLABELLED products. Just as for the quality assurance labelling systems it is of imperative importance that the labelling entity is clearly divided from and independent of the manufacturers. All ecolabelling is voluntary, meaning that they are not mandatory by law. Ecolabelling systems exists for both food and consumer products. Both systems were started by NGOs but nowadays the EU have legislation for the rules of ecolabelling and also have their own ECOLABELs, one for food and one consumer products. At least for the food the ECOLABEL is nearly identical with the NGO definition of the rules of ecolabelling. In fact, the EC ecolabel regulation is the legal minimum requirement for any ecolabel within the EC. Many ECOLABELs have to some extent stricter requirements than the EC ECOLABEL regulation. Many of the food ECOLABELs follows the recommendations from the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements, http://www.ifoam.org/, that started in the 1970s. The EC ecolabel The European Community (EC) initiative to encourage the promotion of environmentally friendly products. The scheme came into operation in late 1992 and was designed to identify products which are less harmful to the environment than equivalent brands. For example, eco-labels will be awarded to products that do not contain chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) which damage the ozone layer, to those products that can be, or are, recycled, and to those that are energy efficient. The labels are awarded on environmental criteria set by the EC. These cover the whole life cycle of a product, from the extraction of raw materials, through manufacture, distribution, use and disposal of the product. The first products to carry the EC ECOLABEL were washing machines, paper towels, writing paper, light bulbs and hairsprays.
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