The EU’s Ecolabel now features on more than 100,000 products, but only 154 of them are from Ireland.
The Ecolabel is designed to highlight products that meet strict environmental criteria.
“The EU Ecolabel has reached a historic milestone: more than 109,096 products now covered by 3,384 licences across Europe carry its trusted logo – the widest range of eco-friendly choices ever available under the scheme”, the EU says.
The European Commission says the EU Ecolabel is “now firmly visible in products used in daily life”, but that doesn’t seem to be the case in Ireland.
Polling suggest Irish people are the least likely anywhere in the European Union to recognise the Ecolabel.
Only one in five people thought they had seen the logo before, according to the poll. That compares to 49 percent in Estonia, Italy and Denmark, and 61 percent in France.
There appears to be a correlation between recognition and the number of products using the logo.
Only 154 Irish products using the Ecolabel, one of the fewest in Europe.
France has more than 13,000 products, Spain more than 16,000 and Italy more than 18,000 products proudly branded with the Ecolabel.
All kinds of products, from paints, to claiming products, cosmetics to wooden flooring use the label to highlight their environmental credentials.
The European Commission says that the EU Ecolabel promotes Europe’s transition to a circular economy, supporting both sustainable production and consumption.
“The EU Ecolabel is a world-renowned, voluntary scheme promoting goods and services that clearly demonstrate environmental excellence, based on standardised processes and scientific evidence.”
“Launched more than 30 years ago as the ‘Community Eco-label’, it has become the biggest and best-known scheme in many EU countries. Consumers increasingly look for the ‘EU flower’ on products to guide them towards more sustainable choices”, the European Commission says.