Paper Industry Slams EU Ecolabel Rules
9/16/99
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Title: Paper Industry Slams EU Ecolabel Rules
Source: Environment News Service
Status: Copyright 1999, contact source for permission to reprint
Date: September 16, 1999
BRUSSELS, Belgium, September 16, 1999 (ENS) - The European paper
industry association Cepi has roundly condemned the EU's new look
ecolabel scheme, which was formally agreed to by environment
ministers in June. In a statement Monday, Cepi "regretted" that
industry comments had not been taken on board by the EU authorities
during the revision process and reiterated a series of specific
concerns over the scheme.
The EU ecolabel was designed to label products, not processes, Cepi
said, and was "therefore not suited to manufacturing industries."
The "very short review period" of three years for ecolabel criteria
was too short for capital intensive industries, while the scheme's
"elitist" nature explained its "low visibility - and its limited
impact on the environment."
The EU flower label that appears on ecolabelled products is aimed at
"guiding consumers, not at educating them." Overall, said Cepi's
Annick Carpentier, the association believes the scheme would not meet
its objectives because it was "neither effective in educating
consumers nor [in] reducing environmental impacts."
Carpentier said that only four mills owned by Cepi members had
obtained the EU ecolabel for their products and they were very small
players. In comparison, she added, some 189 mills, representing 40
percent of paper and pulp production by Cepi members had achieved
either EMAS or ISO 14001 approval.
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