Benefits
Three decades ago, the EU Ecolabel was born. This EU-wide voluntary label promotes products of environmental excellence, based on reliable and scientific information. Since then, it has become the best-known ecolabel by consumers in many EU countries.
With many consumers struggling to understand which products are truly environmentally friendly, the EU Ecolabel is a label that consumers can trust to guide them towards more sustainable choices.
There is every possibility that customers will demand products with a label. When concluding contracts with these parties, your business, therefore, has greater certainty of sales. In other words, you can rely on sales according to an agreed price for a longer period of time.
Provide consumers with trusted sustainable products
Many consumers want to shop sustainably. Making more products with the EU Ecolabel available means offering sustainable options to customers interested in reducing their environmental footprint. Eight out of ten people who know the EU Ecolabel trust that it ensures environmental friendliness, and in many EU countries it is the best known of all available ecolabels.
Play your part in shaping more sustainable consumption habits
Retailers can decide, based on their own assortment strategy, which products to make available to consumers. Offering products with the EU Ecolabel and displaying them prominently can motivate more and more consumers to go for the more sustainable alternative in their shopping. Thus, businesses can contribute to building more sustainable consumption habits.
Be one step ahead of future advertising rules
Consumers should only be exposed to reliable environmental claims and protected from misleading ones. To ensure consumers’ trust, EU decision makers are tightening the requirements for companies to communicate about the green credentials of their products . It is foreseen that generic environmental claims will not be allowed where environmental excellence cannot be demonstrated. Any sustainability label displayed will need to be based on an independent and third-party verified certification scheme. Bearing the EU Ecolabel is one option to support green claims and it acts as a reliable guide for consumers in their purchase decisions.
Certify your green offer
The EU Ecolabel is a core component of the EU’s sustainable product policy, which aims at making sustainable products the norm by 2030. In that sense, retailers can refer to the EU Ecolabel when defining what a sustainable product is in the first place. The label can for example be used to certify retailers’ own-eco-brand and distinguish themselves as frontrunners in offering sustainable products.
Make the reporting on your sustainability efforts easy
At a time when sustainability reporting standards are getting stricter and more prominent in retailers’ strategies, the EU Ecolabel can help make the task easier. Reliable and comparable indicators derived of ecolabelled products can include:
• Percentage of products with the EU Ecolabel sold within a particular product group
• Number of product groups with a minimum percentage of sales certified with the EU Ecolabel
Socially Responsible Purchasing
With an EU Ecolabel certificate, products satisfy the requirements of socially responsible purchasing. Since the introduction of the new Procurement Act, requiring an independent label in the technical specifications of the contract, in the awarding criteria, or as a contract condition has been permitted under certain conditions. Consequently, purchasers can more easily take sustainability into account during the purchasing process.
Interest rate discount on loans
Rabobank grants an interest rate discount on impact loans. EU Ecolabel certificate holders are eligible for the discount. These are commercial loans starting at €250,000, with interest rate discounts of as much as 0.65%.
