3. Examples of how the Community scheme has been implemented

3.1 Community label for laundry detergents

The project was awarded to Germany in 1991. The Umweltbundesamt (UBA) (Ministry of the Environment), took into account :

• european regulations on hazardous substances ;

• the criteria of existing ecolabels (Germany, Nordic countries);

• the heterogeneous nature of water treatment plants in EU countries: application of the precautionary principle ;

• the absence of life-cycle analysis data for detergents and their ingredients: 78 ingredients listed in the DID (detergent industry data) professional database;

• an environmental hierarchy of products on the German market:...