LCA and Ecolabelling

Environmental certification of companies is a promising tool for steering the economy in a more environmentally sound direction. It can also be in a chain perspective so that companies which constitute a production-consumption chain will conclude agreements between each other with respect to their environmental performance. A legal basis is formed by the EMS of ISO 14001 and the EMAS directive of the EU. However, apart from procedural aspects, substantive aspects should also be included. The major steering factor consists of the image of a company. This in contrast to product policy, where the major steering factor lies in the purchase behaviour of consumers. The two types of life cycle approaches should complement each other.