IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/envsyd/v17y1997i2d10.1023_a1018552000651.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Eco-labelling: success or failure?

Author

Listed:
  • Camilla C. Erskine

    (University of Edinburgh)

  • Lyndhurst Collins

    (University of Edinburgh)

Abstract

Eco-labelling was identified in Agenda 21 as a way of encouraging consumers to alter their consumption patterns and to make wiser use of resources and energy in the drive for sustainable development into the next century. A European-wide eco-labelling scheme was introduced by the European Commission (EC) in 1992 as part of its fifth and most recent Environmental Action Plan, the focus of which is also sustainability. The EC eco-labelling scheme aims to promote products with reduced environmental impacts throughout their life cycle and to provide consumers with better information about the environmental impact of products. This paper assesses whether eco-labelling is an effective means of improving the environment, using the eco-labelling of paper products as a case study. Paper products are examined because the development of their ecolabelling criteria has been a particularly complex and contentious issue. Moreover, although criteria have now been adopted for three groups of paper products, controversy has dominated the criteria-setting process and debate continues about the relevance of the selected criteria. It is concluded that while the concept of eco-labelling is good, the practical application of the concept is not straightforward. Furthermore, at present, there is little evidence of eco-labelling benefitting the environment.

Suggested Citation

  • Camilla C. Erskine & Lyndhurst Collins, 1997. "Eco-labelling: success or failure?," Environment Systems and Decisions, Springer, vol. 17(2), pages 125-133, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:envsyd:v:17:y:1997:i:2:d:10.1023_a:1018552000651
    DOI: 10.1023/A:1018552000651
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1023/A:1018552000651
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1023/A:1018552000651?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sally Eden, 1994. "Business, trust and environmental information: Perceptions from consumers and retailers," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 3(4), pages 1-8.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Grunert, Klaus G., 2011. "Sustainability in the Food Sector: A Consumer Behaviour Perspective," International Journal on Food System Dynamics, International Center for Management, Communication, and Research, vol. 2(3), pages 1-12, December.
    2. Domenico Morrone & Rosamartina Schena, 2018. "The Influence of “Euro-Leaf” Logo on Consumers’ Choices: The Italian Case of Branded and Private Label Food Products," International Journal of Business and Management, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 13(3), pages 134-134, February.
    3. Christopher Bruce & Andrea Laroiya, 2007. "The Production of Eco-Labels," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 36(3), pages 275-293, March.
    4. Lee, Eung Jin & Bae, Joonheui & Kim, Kyung Hoon, 2020. "The effect of environmental cues on the purchase intention of sustainable products," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 425-433.
    5. Alexander J. Stein & Marcelo Lima, 2022. "Sustainable food labelling: considerations for policy-makers," Review of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Studies, Springer, vol. 103(2), pages 143-160, June.
    6. Claudia E. Henninger, 2015. "Traceability the New Eco-Label in the Slow-Fashion Industry?—Consumer Perceptions and Micro-Organisations Responses," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(5), pages 1-22, May.
    7. Low, Sui Pheng & Gao, Shang & See, Yan Long, 2014. "Strategies and measures for implementing eco-labelling schemes in Singapore's construction industry," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 31-40.
    8. Lívia Garcez de Oliveira Padilha & Lenka Malek & Wendy J. Umberger, 2021. "Sustainable Meat: Looking through the Eyes of Australian Consumers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-24, May.
    9. Elfriede Penz & Eva Hofmann & Barbara Hartl, 2017. "Fostering Sustainable Travel Behavior: Role of Sustainability Labels and Goal-Directed Behavior Regarding Touristic Services," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(6), pages 1-17, June.
    10. Khan Md Raziuddin Taufique & Chamhuri Siwar & Basri Talib & Farah Hasan Sarah & Norshamliza Chamhuri, 2014. "Synthesis of Constructs for Modeling Consumers’ Understanding and Perception of Eco-Labels," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(4), pages 1-25, April.
    11. Yao Song & Zhenzhen Qin & Qi Yuan, 2019. "The Impact of Eco-Label on the Young Chinese Generation: The Mediation Role of Environmental Awareness and Product Attributes in Green Purchase," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-18, February.
    12. Jerome Vanclay & John Shortiss & Scott Aulsebrook & Angus Gillespie & Ben Howell & Rhoda Johanni & Michael Maher & Kelly Mitchell & Mark Stewart & Jim Yates, 2011. "Customer Response to Carbon Labelling of Groceries," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 34(1), pages 153-160, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Khan Md Raziuddin Taufique & Chamhuri Siwar & Basri Talib & Farah Hasan Sarah & Norshamliza Chamhuri, 2014. "Synthesis of Constructs for Modeling Consumers’ Understanding and Perception of Eco-Labels," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(4), pages 1-25, April.
    2. Claudia E. Henninger, 2015. "Traceability the New Eco-Label in the Slow-Fashion Industry?—Consumer Perceptions and Micro-Organisations Responses," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(5), pages 1-22, May.
    3. Mohamed Akli Achabou, 2014. "Brand influence on consumer preference for environmental labels," Working Papers 2014-139, Department of Research, Ipag Business School.
    4. Sally Eden, 1997. "Regulation, self‐regulation and environmental consensus: lessons from the UK packaging waste experience," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 6(4), pages 232-241, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:envsyd:v:17:y:1997:i:2:d:10.1023_a:1018552000651. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.