EU Ecolabel: where does Italy stand?

The ISPRA (The Italian National Institute for Environmental Protection and Research) presented a report on the situation with products carrying Ecolabel EU licenses in Italy in a period from 2012 to present. Find out more about the report here. From 1998, the year of the first EU Ecolabel licenses in Italy, until today, there has been a remarkable evolution, in fact, the data show a general positive growth trend in both the number of labeled products and services and EU Ecolabel licenses.

Some downturns occurred in particular in the years from 2009 to 2010 and in the years 2015 and 2016, because of the introduction of new EU Ecolabel criteria to which already licensed companies had to conform, which resulted in the withdrawal of certain licenses.

Currently in Italy there are 351 EU Ecolabel licenses involving 8552 products. Specifically, we can point out that the product group with the largest number of licenses is "Tourist receptive service" with 199 licenses followed by "Paper Fabric" with 36 licenses and "Campsite Service" with 23 licenses.

The territorial composition of EU Ecolabel licenses is as follows:

• Northern Italy with 53.8% of licenses

• South Italy with 24.5% of licenses

• Center of Italy with 21.4% of licenses.

• Foreign country: a company headquartered in Italy but with a foreign legal head office with 0.3%.

Moreover, according to the analysis carried out by the European Commission, Italy is ranked second in Europe by number of licenses, placing itself first in terms of the number of products and services labeled EU Ecolabel. Read more here.

Despite these data being satisfactory, Italy still has a long way to go. Firstly, because many sectors still have to enter this virtuous system, secondly, because despite the presence of many products and services under the EU Ecolabel brand, Italians still do not know or are not familiar enough with the importance of the EU Ecolabel brand.

Author: Giulia Netti (LUM University)