Blue Angel logo

Blue Angel

The Blue Angel has been the ecolabel of the German Federal Government for more than 45 years. It is an independent and credible label that sets stringent standards for environmentally friendly products and services. The Blue Angel is the guide for purchasing for over 25,000 products and services in over 100 different product groups. It labels both recycled paper (DE-UZ 14a) and printed matters made from recycled paper (DE-UZ 195).

Website

Summary

Region / Country

  • Germany

Environmental standards

Yes

Social and ethical responsibility standards

No

Is there a label to put on the product?

Yes

Who can hold accreditation?

  • Distributor
  • Publisher
  • Printer

Who / what has accreditation

  • Product

Independent verification / audit

Yes

Accreditation information

Key stats

Relevant to book industry?

  • Publishers
  • Printers

Where in supply chain?

  • Across the supply chain
  • Paper

Key stakeholders?

  • Publisher
  • Printer
  • Distributors

What type of entity is the badge certifying?

  • Finished products

Organisation/management procedures & outcomes?

The Blue Angel has been the ecolabel of the German federal government for more than 45 years. It is awarded to environmentally friendly products and services. No other label in the non-food sector covers such a wide range of products and services. The aim of the environmental label is to provide private customers, large institutional consumers and public institutions with reliable guidance for environmentally conscious purchasing. The Blue Angel is a so-called Type I environmental label, based on the international standard DIN ISO 14024 “Environmental labels and declarations – Type I environmental labelling – Principles and procedures (ISO 14024:2018)”. It is an independent label that certifies the best products in a product group based on a comprehensive range of criteria and thus differs from those product labels that only pay attention to one criterion or which are issued by the manufacturers themselves.

Environmental Attributes

Identifying the key elements

  1. What are the applicable environmental attributes?

Recycling, Sustainability, Circular Economy.

  1. Does the badge intend to assess social aspects & how are they related to environmental attributes?

Partly: Yes

  1. Which Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are the accreditation aligned to? How would receiving the certification help an organisation to achieve these goals?

Goal 12 RESPONSIBLE CONSUMPTION AND PRODUCTION

  1. Is it recognised on an international, European or country level?

International

  1. Does the badge have mutual recognition with other labels?

No, only as proof for individual requirements other certificates are partially recognized

  1. What are the benefits and practicalities to the organisation receiving the accreditation? 

Contribution to environmental protection, Generating trust among consumers.

  1. a) Cost 

One-time handling fee of 400 € (plus VAT), costs for verification (e.g. laboratory tests) and costs depending on the licence holders´ amount of the annual fee.

  1. b) Time to achieve certification 

2 months.

  1. c) Do the certified bodies have to publish your progress every year ?

includes annual checks for single criteria and the revision of the criteria usually follow every 3-4 years and licence holders have to reapply for certification.

  1. d) Response times for audit outcomes, reports and recommendations 

Depends on the type of tests

  1. Is the accreditation tiered?

No.

Assessment criteria

Governance Quality

  1. What is the overarching objective of the accreditation body? 

Protection of the environment.

  1. a) How is the badge verified? 

The Blue Angel is an impartial and voluntary product label that is independent of business interests. This is guaranteed by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV) as the owner of the label, the German Environment Agency who develops the Basic Award Criteria on a scientific basis, the Environmental Label Jury as the decision-making body and RAL gGmbH as an independent certification body. The Blue Angel is a so-called Type I environmental label, based on the international standard DIN ISO 14024 “Environmental labels and declarations – Type I environmental labelling – Principles and procedures (ISO 14024:2018)”. It is an independent label that certifies the best products in a product group based on a comprehensive range of criteria and thus differs from those product labels that only pay attention to one criterion or which are issued by the manufacturers themselves.

  1. a) i. Independent body 

Yes

  1. a) ii. Governing body 

Yes

  1. a) iii. Self-regulating 

Not defined at this time.

  1. b) What are the criteria used to be recognized as the above? Considering human resource, technical expertise and financial input 

state Type I eco-label

  1. a) How often are the certified products/organisations/projects re-evaluated? 

includes annual checks for single criteria and the revision of the criteria usually follow every 3-4 years and licence holders have to reapply for certification.

  1. b) How often are the assessment and certification practices re-evaluated? 

Every 3 – 4 years.

  1. c) What input do stakeholders have to the governance structure and certification processes? 

Independent decision makers: Environmental Label Jury The Environmental Label Jury is an independent, impartial and voluntary body that ensures the reliability of the Blue Angel. It decides which new product groups are added and discusses and approves the Basic Award Criteria proposed by the UBA. This decision-making body comprises 15 representatives from environmental and consumer associations, trade unions, industry, the trade, crafts, local authorities, academia, the media, churches, young people and the German federal states.

  1. d) How responsive is the certification body to this feedback? 

The Eco-label Jury decides on the requirements and the evidence according to which the certification body will verify.

  1. To what extent are the answers questions 2 and 3 made transparent to consumers, the certified organisations and any other stakeholders? 

All requirements in the respective product groups as well as the processes and responsibilities are published transparently at www.blauer-engel.de.

Governance effectiveness

  1. What environmental performance metrics are used – consumption data, emissions, life cycle analysis etc.? 

Life cycle analysis

  1. a) How complete and accurate are these assessments? 

The Blue Angel guarantees that a product places less burden on the environment and the climate and fulfils high standards with respect to the protection of human health – while also having the same fitness for use and quality as other products. The German Environment Agency (UBA) develops requirements (so-called Basic Award Criteria) for each specific product group based on scientific publications, its own studies and market research which act as the prerequisite for certification with the environmental label. In the evaluation process, the environmental label takes a holistic view of the life cycle of the product – from its production and use through to its disposal and recycling. The aim is to identify areas relevant to the environment for each product group in which environmental pollution could be significantly reduced or even avoided. In the process, the Blue Angel goes above and beyond traditional environmental criteria such as low energy consumption, low emissions to water, air and soil and the preservation of resources. It also takes into account health-related aspects, such as low levels of pollutants and noise emissions.

  1. b) How are these benchmarked? 

See previous.

  1. c) What is the scoring system used? 

No scoring system, as a holistic approach is taken over the entire product life cycle. To certify a product, all criteria must be met according to the required evidence.

  1. In what form are the outputs of certification delivered? 

Blue Angel allows the product to display the Blue Angel certificate on the product together with the DE-UZ number indicating the awarding criteria. The time limit for the use of the Blue Angel is dependent on the validity period of the contract and at maximum on the validity period of the award criteria.

  1. Are clear, actionable recommendations delivered and implemented? 

Generally the product can pass or fail the application process.

  1. To what extent do end-users understand what the badge is certifying? How visible is this on an end-product e.g., through a label? 

Blue Angel Label with link to to the award criteria, an explanatory box can be optionally used .

Social Responsibility Attributes

Key elements

  1. What are the key social performance areas the accreditations assesses? For instance, community involvement and human rights

The Blue Angel is at its core an environmental label but it increasingly focuses on other aspects such as working conditions during the production process. Alongside environmental benefits, companies want to demonstrate that they also offer more than comparable products when it comes to these social aspects. The Blue Angel faces up to this challenge and incorporates social aspects into the requirements for relevant product groups, e.g. textiles, mobile telephones, toys and shoes.

  1. Do the above social performance areas interlink with achieving any positive environmental impacts?

Not applicable.

  1. Does the accreditation have different requirements for SMEs compared with larger organisations?

Not applicable.

Governance Effectiveness

  1. What indicators are used to assess the social impact areas?

Not applicable.

  1. Are the above indicators a complete and accurate reflection of these social impacts?

Not applicable.

  1. How does the certification weight these indicators according to their effect on social value?

Not applicable.