Govt Finds No Takers For Eco Label

The ecomark scheme, launched in 1991, to help consumers identify environment friendly products has failed to take off. No ecomark-labelled product has ever been seen in the market. The reason for the schemes failure is the lack of interest, of both the industry and the consumers, in the concept.

A ministry of environment and forests official said the scheme failed because it was not given enough publicity. A Bureau of Indian Standards, the other agency implementing the scheme, official said it takes money to obtain the license, which adds to the products cost.

Since the cost factor is a major consideration for the Indian consumer, producers are discouraged to go in for this voluntary scheme.

 

Sources disclosed that only two industries had applied for the licence till now one was in the paints category and the other in the detergent category.

These firms had applied for the license two years back. Of these two firms, only one, Godrej, was qualified for the license and it had got it for soaps.

The license was valid for one year, but the company did not use the logo and did not renew the licence. Procter and Gamble did not seek a renewal fearing that marketing of soaps with the ecomark label would affect the sale of its other soap brands, the ministry was told.

The scheme was launched to create awareness about the environment among consumers, who by preferring environment friendly products could in turn, impel the industry to adopt clean technologies.

The government initially identified 16 categories of products that could apply for the license.

Drugs were later taken out of the list because they were already covered under the drug control order. Pesticides were excluded on the plea that such materials by their very nature were not environment friendly.

Leather and leather products, which were not in the initial list, were, however, subsequently included. Thus, there are 15 categories on the eco-mark list.

These are: soaps and detergents, paper, food items, lubricating oils, packaging materials/packages, architectural paints and powder coatings, batteries, electrical/electronic goods, food additives, wood substitutes, cosmetics, aerosol propellants, plastic products, textiles and leather and leather products.

The qualifying norms and standards for the grant of ecomark are formulated by the Central Pollution Control Board. The licensing authority is the Bureau of Indian Standards and the apex authority is a steering committee in the ministry of environment and forests.

The ecomark label is similar to the ISI and the BIS mark. However, while the ISI/BIS marks certify the genuineness of the product, the ecomark certifies that the product has been manufactured such that damage to environment is minimal.

The ecomark label, which is supposed to be exhibited on the product, is an earthen pot.

It symbolises three things the raw material used is renewable, it does not produce hazardous waste and the production requires little or no energy.

The scheme popularly known as green shopping in the West got a fillip at the Rio Earth Summit, which, under its agenda 21, stressed the need to reduce wasteful consumption and to promote environmentally sound products.