3. Criteria development

3.1 Ecolabels and product life cycles

To be meaningful, ecolabel criteria must reflect the desire to limit the major impacts of the product category in question. Approaching these impacts requires a global vision of the product's life cycle, i.e. an examination of all stages (manufacture, distribution, use, disposal or recovery at end-of-life...).For example, simply because a product is made from recycled materials does not mean that it is "better for the environment" than another product made from virgin materials, as recycling can, in some cases, lead to the intensification of certain impacts (linked to collection and reprocessing operations, etc.), which can reduce its overall environmental relevance. It is therefore necessary to have an overall vision, in order to avoid the displacement...