Environmental Labelling – what does it mean?
As the public and our customers become more aware of the importance of protecting our environment they will inevitably demand more building products from sustainable sources.
With green issues dominating the globe, there is considerable potential for environmentally aware consumers to influence corporations to provide eco-friendly products.
The concept of eco-labelling is to encourage environmentally friendly commodities in the market place. It has been highly recommended by governments to promote environmental labelling in order to change consumption patterns and to conserve the environment for sustainable development.
At present there are many different labels assists consumers, to make responsible product choices, by informing them of the environmental impact of the products and provide a standardised means of comparing products.
This allows consumers to express their environmental preferences through their choice of products.
The building industry, in Australia, relies on the testing procedures of independent third party certification schemes to determine a products environmental attributes.
Types of Eco labels associated with building certification schemes in Australia are as follows:
The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)
The FSC was founded in 1993. It aims to support environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial, and economically viable management of the world's forests. The FSC manages an international labelling scheme for forest products, which is customarily required by many large buying organisations in North America and Europe, especially DIY chains. All forest products carrying the FSC logo have been independently certified as coming from forests that meet the internationally recognised FSC Principles and Criteria of Forest Stewardship. FSC products may contribute to green star credit points by the Green Building Council of Australia.
Good Environmental Choice Australia (GECA)
The Good Environmental Choice Label was founded in 2000 and is administered by the Australian Environmental Labelling Association Inc a non-profit non-government organisation with a national outreach. The full product life cycle label is product focussed with standards in a range of consumer, building and industrial products.This certification scheme may also contribute to Green Star Credit points.
Programme for the Endorsement of Certified Products (PEFC)
The PEFC was launched in 1999. PEFC is a framework for the mutual recognition of credible national or regional forest certification schemes which have been developed to meet internationally recognised requirements for sustainable forest management. Over 209 million hectares of forests are currently certified under the PEFC – which is the world’s largest forest certification scheme.
The Australian Forestry Standard (AFS)
The AFS is a not-for- profit company associated with the PEFC. Products labelled with the AFS logo provide assurance that the timber based products purchased, stocked and sold has been sourced from a sustainably managed forest.AS 4708, is the leading management standard of the Australian Forest Certification Scheme (AFCS), which has over 7.8 million certified hectares of native forests and plantations in Australia. The AFCS also includes a Chain of Custody Standard - AS 4707, to track forest and wood products through the supply chain.The challenge for governments, corporations and stakeholders is how to regulate and educate consumers on the vast labelling system.
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