Both are issued in rance by A nor Certi ication

Since July 1, computers, printers and scanners manu acturers wishing to label their hardware eco Energy Star must meet more stringent criteria in terms o electricity consumption. Supporting the Energy Star program with the United States or the protection o the En ironment Agency, the European Commission hopes that these new constraints, once applied to all O ice equipment will sa e 22 terawatt hours o electricity in Europe here in six years (equi alent to the consumption o the Ireland).

Only problem: the isibility o the Energy Star symbol among the 300 or so eco, according to the U.S. site Ecolabelling, or the attention o the general public. Alone in North America, there are 82. And no less than 118 in Europe! "In the United States, there are a new eco-label almost e ery week", smiles Scot Case, Director General o the North American program EcoLogo, ery popular in the Canada. A true Bazaar alongside international, national labels or rewards autodécernées by companies. As the Aircra t Ecolabel lybe regional airline lybe has a ixed its own aircra t!

In the jungle, what happens next "There is an international standard, ISO 14024, which de ines precisely what must be an eco-label," warns Patricia Proïa, head o the pole en ironment in A nor Certi ication, the irst rench certi ication and assessment agency companies and administrations. In rance, only two eco-labels are recognized by the Department o Ecology: N en ironment mark (1991) and the eco-label European (1992) symbolized by a lower topped the euro letter and small stars. Both are issued in rance by A nor Certi ication. To register a product under the brand name N en ironment, companies must pay more than 1.500 euros o training costs and audit costs EUR 1,850. Need to add a right o use 0.1 o the annual turno er o the product certi ied (between 1,000 and 11,000 euros).

Dress rehearsal

or the moment, the N en ironment mark is a ailable or 23 classes o products (co ee ilters, litter to cat, trash bags...) and the European Ecolabel or 26 categories ( acuum cleaners, washing machines, paper toilet...). "There is no o erlap between the two labels, ensures Patricia Proïa.". "Exception!", particularly or paints and arnishes. But the big problem o these two labels, in rance, lies in their low isibility. "In 2008, assisted by the N en ironment mark notoriety rate was 25 ", says Patricia Proïa. E en i this percentage has doubled in two years, it remains ar rom the peak reached by pioneers o the northern European eco-labels. "95 o Swedes know our logo, the Swan", boasts Ragnar Unge, responsible or the Sweden o Nordic Ecolabel, common to the Denmark, the inland, the Norway and the Sweden or twenty years. E en score or Blue Angel, issued in Germany since 1978. "80 o the population we know", says Henning Scholtz, the RALS, the German certi ying agency or this program.

Result, German, 600 companies applied the Blue Angel or 10,000 products. Whereas in rance, only 82 companies sign the N en ironment mark on their articles. "The mark N en ironment and the European eco-label did not trigger, such as the Swan or the Blue Angel, a irtuous circle where the logo to the general public awareness encouraging companies to certi y", summarizes Ioannis Chrysostomidis, consultant at ERM (En ironmental Resources Management), a London irm specialized in the en ironment, which compared last year's major global ecolabels or the British Go ernment. "Should not be o erlooked these eco-labels", moderate Robert ergnes, responsible o the Paris O ice o ERM. "In rance, the Grenelle 2 Act require, to 2012, companies to publish the en ironmental impact o their products." Eco-labels enable them to become amiliar with this type o stress. "A kind o rehearsal, somehow, to more than 4,000 euros per product.