FEATURE: SERVING UP GREEN
GREEN LABELLING MADE EASY
Tuesday, March 3, 2009

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The CAN/CSA-ISO 14021 Environmental labels and declarations — Self-declared environmental claims standard specifically addresses the types of claims consumers are accustomed to seeing on packaging. All self-declared environmental claims:

• Shall be accurate and not misleading.
• Shall be substantiated and verified.
• Shall be relevant to the particular product and used only in an appropriate context or setting.
• Shall be presented in a manner that clearly indicates whether the claim applies to the complete product, only a component of the product, packaging an element of a service.
• Shall be specific about the environmental aspect or environmental improvement claimed.
• Shall not be restated using different terminology to imply multiple benefits for a single environmental change.
• Shall be unlikely to result in misinterpretation.
• Shall be true not only in relation to the final product but takes into consideration all relevant aspects of the product lifecycle to identify the potential for one impact to increase in the process of decreasing another. However, this does not necessarily mean a lifecycle assessment should be undertaken.
• Shall be presented in a manner that does not imply the product is endorsed or certified by an independent third party organization when it is not.
• Shall not, either directly or by implication, suggest an environmental improvement that does not exist or exaggerate the environmental aspect of the product to which the claim relates.
• Shall not be made if, despite the claim being literally true, it is likely to be misinterpreted by purchasers or is misleading through the omission of relevant facts.
• Shall only relate to an environmental aspect that either exists or is likely to be realized during the life of the product.
• Shall be presented in a manner that clearly indicates that the environmental claim and explanatory statement should be read together. The explanatory statement shall be of reasonable size and in reasonable proximity to the environmental claim it accompanies.
• Shall, if a comparative assertion of environmental superiority or improvement is made, be specific and make clear the basis for the comparison. In particular, the environmental claim shall be relevant in terms of how recently any improvement was made.
• Shall, if based on a pre-existing but previously undisclosed aspect, be presented in a manner that does not lead purchasers, potential purchasers and users of the product to believe the claim is based on a recent product or process modification.
• Shall not be made based on the absence of ingredients or features that have never been associated with the product category.
• Shall be reassessed and updated as necessary to reflect changes in technology, competitive products or other circumstances that could alter the accuracy of the claim.
• Shall be relevant to the area where the corresponding environmental impact occurs.
  

However, a process-related claim can be made anywhere, so long as the environmental impact occurs in the area where the production process is located. The size of the area will be determined by the nature of the impact.

 

Provided by the Canadian Standards Association.