The development of an index for assessing the circularity level of eco-labels

Abstract

The Circular Economy concept is recognized as a promising instrument to address sustainability goals related to production and consumption patterns. This concept can be promoted through product labels which provide consumers with information about the product. So far, there is a lack of circular economy labels. The existing eco-labels mainly show the environmental impact of a product; however, few include some circularity aspects. Thus, this study addresses this gap by introducing an Eco-Label Circularity Index (ECI) based on scoring systems and Circular Economy principles in order to assess the circularity level of existing eco-labels. The proposed framework was applied to a sample of 27 eco-labels to test and demonstrate its applicability and provide insights into the circularity of the eco-labels examined. The findings show that the examined labels do not adequately cover Circular Economy issues through their certification process, hence they are unable to provide a clear indication of the products contribution to Circular Economy. The implementation of the ECI in this study demonstrates its use as a straightforward evaluation process and a useful first step in making the circular aspects of products transparent and reducing information asymmetry between producers and consumers. © 2022