Eco-label Certification Research Articles

Environmental Factors Affecting Spatio-Temporal Distribution of Crop-Exploiting Species: Implications for Coexistence Between Agricultural Production and Avifauna Conservation in Wetlands

Bird communities in agroecosystems bring both ecosystem services (e.g., pollination) and disservices (e.g., crop exploitation) to farmers. However, in the proximity of wetland reserves, farmers disproportionately experience harvest yield loss due to large aggregation of bird species that can utilize various agricultural resources. This often results in negative human–wildlife interactions which lower conservation support among farmers. Knowledge about the distribution of avian species that negatively influence yields, and its environmental drivers is thus fundamental to reconcile crop production and bird conservation. This study aims to examine the spatio-temporal patterns in richness and abundance of bird species known to cause agricultural yield loss as well as species-specific distribution patterns for the six bird species that are most challenging for local farmers. In combination with interview surveys of local farmers (n = 367) and seasonal bird surveys (n = 720), we investigated distribution of crop-exploiting avian species in the Indawgyi wetland ecosystem in Myanmar. Our results showed high richness and abundance of crop-exploiting species in the water habitat across all seasons, with most challenging species exhibiting higher presence closer to these water sources. The crop phenology had positive effect on species richness and abundance during the growing season. The agricultural use of crop-exploiting species was season- and species-specific, where the presence probability in the agricultural habitat was higher in habitat generalists than wetland specialists. Therefore, we suggest improved management of natural wetland habitats (e.g., habitat restoration), sustainable coexistence mechanisms in farms close to water (e.g., bird-friendly rice farming and Ecolabel certification) to reduce avian impacts on the farming communities and, at the same time, to promote bird conservation in wetlands of international importance.

Can new metrics be validated to reduce computer supply chain GHG emissions among end users?

The research objective is to create a mechanism that generates a valid 'sustainability' metric to enable prospective buyers to confidently identify low carbon footprint computers. The necessity is based upon the hypothesis that current product carbon footprint reports for computers are incomparable between brands. While the inconsistency of use-phase emissions has been addressed in prior associated research, supply chain emissions remain an issue. This is due to multiple scope 3 life cycle assessment methodologies being used by manufacturers that produce differing results even when applied to the same device. To test the theory and generate an alternative approach, the research analyses 244 notebook carbon footprint reports to show inconsistencies caused by five different methodologies. Based on the findings, an alternative approach to comparing supply chain impact is proposed that enables comparison between results. The new metric first generates an average scope 3 carbon footprint baseline value by device type (e.g. notebook). This is then reduced by specific values depending upon actions undertaken by manufacturers when calculating their original carbon footprint report. This includes deductions to the baseline value achieved by including high percentages of production and transport primary data, plus the availability and affordability of offerings that will extend device useful life spans to drive demand displacement. This includes warranty duration and cost plus ease of repair. The research finds that current methodologies create a range of inconsistency of +106% when used to calculate the carbon footprint of the same device and +142% when calculating similar device types. Therefore, the hypothesis of scope 3 emissions being incomparable is validated. Comparatively, the newly proposed mechanism shows a reduced range of inconsistency of 18% when demonstrated. As such, it is recommended that the new approach be applied to the latest version of the world's leading computer eco-label certification, TCO Certified version 10, in 2024. Doing so will enable organisations to confidently select low carbon footprint devices on a global scale and therefore meaningfully support the United Nations sustainable development goals of responsible consumption and production and ultimately climate action.

Understanding the socio-ecological system of small-scale octopus fisheries in North Minahasa to achieve sustainable certification

This study aims to comprehend the challenges and opportunities to implement certification in the small-scale octopus fisheries in North Minahasa through the Socio-ecological System (SES). The background of this research is because Indonesian octopus has a potential for export. However, octopus was listed under concern due to unsustainable fisheries practices. In addition, the export activity must be accompanied by an eco-label certification scheme such as Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) and Fair Trade (FT). This study used a qualitative case study by online interviews with stakeholders such as fishers, middlemen, exporters, and the government-non government organization. The result was that local actors started to become aware of the octopus improvement program through cooperation with an NGO in a program called Rumah Boboca; hence, it is not ready to implement certification. The recommendation is to support improvement with an octopus national management plan (RPP) and a basic Fishery Improvement Project (FIP).

Effect and formulation of ecolabel policy: A perspective of green supply chain decision and coordination.

Ecolabel policy has become an important strategy to encourage the consumption of green products throughout the world, contributing to sustainable development which is an inevitable choice for human society. Considering the manufacturer's reputation, consumer's environmental awareness, and effects of ecolabel certification on product demand, this study proposes several Stankelberg game models containing one manufacturer and one retailer to compare the optimal decisions and the impacts on the green supply chain with/without ecolabel certification, where four different scenarios are investigated in the centralized and decentralized situations. The results indicate that the ecolabel policy only functions below a threshold associated with the consumer's environmental awareness, which is higher in the decentralized situation. On the contrary, the optimal ecolabel standard in the centralized decision-making situation is higher than that in the decentralized ones if maximizing the environmental benefit. For the manufacturer, only when producing products as the ecolabel standard can it get the optimal profit. Finally, a wholesale price contract with the manufacturer's reputation is proposed, which improves the product's green degree and the environmental benefit to the optimal level in a decentralized supply chain.

The EU Ecolabel as a mark of environmental excellence – a literature review

Sustainable development and the reduction of the use of non-renewable resources are gradually becoming central issues for the EU growth plans. In the face of those inevitable changes, the voluntary labeling system – EU Ecolabel – is gaining in importance. The aim of the study was to conduct a systematic review of the scientific literature on the EU Ecolabel labeling system and to identify and evaluate the existing trends. In the course of the study, the main research trends regarding labeling were determined. Among the most popular research topics were those relating to a specific category of products. Within this group, the largest number of studies in the analyzed period concerned issues related to tourism. Of particular value are the publications introducing the basis for defining criteria for new products, which so far have not been subject to the EU Ecolabel certification. A negative conclusion from the conducted review is the low involvement of researchers from Poland in the studies on the EU Ecolabel.

Analysis of eco-label certification implementation on eco-friendly products in Indonesia

The significant increase of population, especially in Indonesia, has an impact on consumption per capita. This phenomenon causes a domino effect on the environment quality. Concern and awareness of consumers towards the environment is important, one alternative that can be done to protect the environment is to use environmentally friendly (eco-friendly) product. Eco-friendly products are currently marked with an eco-label affixed to a product, which indicates that a product is produced with due regard to the principles of environmental sustainability. This study aimed to identify and analysed implementation of eco-label certification on eco-friendly products in Indonesia. This research is based on a literature study of the current implementation of eco-label certification on eco-friendly products. Furthermore, the results showed that various types of eco-label certification have been developed for eco-friendly products in Indonesia. The implementation of eco-label certification has been carried out on several products; generally eco-label certification uses the 14000 series standard as a reference in conducting certification. Eco-label certification is expected to support the goals of the Government of Indonesia in sustainable development. In addition, the trend of demand for eco-friendly products by global consumers will certainly provide competitiveness for Indonesian products while still paying attention to environmental sustainability.

Experimental evidence of the impact of framing of actors and victims in conservation narratives.

Media narratives play a crucial role in framing marine conservation dilemmas by depicting human actors, such as fish consumers or the fishing industry, as responsible for negative effects of their actions on species and ecosystems. However, there is little evidence documenting how such narratives affect preferences for reducing bycatch. Behavioral science research shows that people can act less prosocially when more actors are responsible for a collective outcome (responsibility diffusion effect) and when more victims need to be helped (compassion fade effect); thus, the media's framing of actors and victims may have a significant effect on preferences. We conducted the first test of responsibility diffusion and compassion fade in a marine context in an online experiment (1548 participants in the United Kingdom). In 9 media narratives, we varied the type of actors responsible for fisheries bycatch (e.g., consumers and industry) and victims (e.g., a single species, multiple species, and ecosystems) in media narratives and determined the effects of the narratives on participants' support for bycatch policies and intentions to alter fish consumption. When responsibility for negative effects was attributed to consumers and industry, the probability of participants reporting support for fisheries policies (e.g., bycatch enforcement or consumer taxes) was ∼30% higher (odds ratio=1.32) than when only consumers were attributed responsibility. These effects were primarily driven by female participants. Narratives had no effect on personal intentions to consume fish. Varying the type of victim had no effect on policy support and intentions. Our results suggest that neither responsibility diffusion nor compassion fade automatically follows from increasing the types of actors and victims in media narratives and that effects can depend on the type of outcome and population subgroup.

The accumulation and substitution effects of multi-nation certified organic and protected eco-origin food labels in China

We conduct a choice experiment to explore Chinese consumer willingness to pay (WTP) for milk with multi-nation organic labels. We also consider the interaction between these labels and the novel Protected Eco-Origin Product (PEOP) certification as well as different brands. Two types of multi-nation organic certification are examined: ‘double certification’ (i.e., carrying both the Chinese and EU organic labels) and ‘triple certification’ (i.e., carrying Chinese, EU, and U.S. organic labels). Compared to the Chinese organic label alone, consumers increase their WTP for double and triple organic certification, but the marginal WTP decreases for an additional organic label suggesting a negative accumulation effect. Meanwhile, organic and PEOP labels are substitutes, with the substitution effect stronger for higher number of organic labels. Welfare changes with various combinations between multiple organic and PEOP labels, as well as consumer preference heterogeneity across labels are analyzed, providing implications on producer decision-making, policymaking, and consumer benefit analysis with respect to organic and ecolabel certification in general.

A global review of MSC certification: Why fisheries withdraw?

The Marine Stewardship Council is the leader in seafood ecolabel certification. Despite its high impact in promoting sustainable fishing and securing price premiums, a large proportion of fisheries withdraw from the scheme during or after certification. We, therefore, investigate the factors influencing the likelihood of withdrawal. To achieve this, we analysed publicly available information from 301 fisheries that have embarked on the certification process using survival analysis methods to investigate the withdrawal rate. It was found that the fishing gear used, and geographical location were the principal factors affecting the likelihood of withdrawal and that the risk of withdrawal is greatest during the full-assessment process and the first five years of certification. Our study also reviews the uneven global expansion of MSC ecolabelling by region and identifies factors that influence withdrawal and need to be considered in fisheries entering MSC certification.

Japanese Consumer Preference For Raw Fish: Best–Worst Scaling Method

Given the declining consumption of fish and shellfish in Japan, it is essential to better understand consumer needs to design policies that increase consumption. Therefore, we clarify the relative degree of importance Japanese consumers place on various attributes of raw fish during purchase based on a questionnaire survey employing best–worst scaling. We find that consumers prioritize freshness, price, taste, appearance, safety, seasonality, ease of cooking and eating, nutrition, origin, wild fish, and effect on natural environment and ecosystem, in that order. Wild fish has unexpectedly low importance, although Japanese consumers conventionally purchase captured fishery products rather than cultured ones. The effect on the natural environment and ecosystem is accorded the least importance; however, there is a growing trend of purchasing products with marine eco-label certification. To increase environmental sustainability while maximizing natural resource use, proactive actions are needed to change consumer attitudes. The results of a random parameter logit model reveal a comparatively higher preference heterogeneity for origin, ease of cooking and eating, and price. In other words, consumers concerned with origin and not concerned with ease of cooking and eating can be expected to purchase raw fish even at a higher price if the added value is appropriate.

Preferred product attributes for sustainable outdoor apparel: A conjoint analysis approach

Sustainability has become a critical concern for the textile and apparel industry. Over years, a variety of initiatives and practices have been implemented in the industry to reduce the impact to the environment. Offering sustainable products has been an endeavor for many companies in the apparel industry, including the outdoor wear segment. While Consumers are increasingly aware of and interested in buying sustainable products, much research is still needed in terms of important attributes influencing consumers’ purchase decision as well as tradeoffs consumers make when important attributes conflicting against each other. Employing a conjoint analysis approach, this study aims to investigate how different product attributes (i.e., type of fabric, type of down, eco-label certification, and price) jointly affect consumers’ sustainable apparel purchase decision in more realistic settings. As a result of a full profile fractional factorial design, a parsimonious orthogonal array of eight profiles were generated, representing eight different realistic combinations of product attributes. Four hundred and four participants were recruited to participate in this study to evaluate and indicate their purchase intention toward each product profile. Results suggest that price, as expected, is still the most important attribute to consumers, followed by type of fabric(recycled), availability of eco-labels, and type of down (traceable). Moreover, the results reveal that the tradeoffs consumers made varied due to their demographics in terms of gender, education, income, and past purchase experience. This research provides insightful managerial implications to fashion practitioners in their efforts in formulating strategies for product development and marketing by identifying preferred product attributes from the consumer-centric perspective.

How Is the Sustainable Consumption Intention Model in Food Industry under Preference Uncertainties? The Consumer Willingness to Pay on Recycled Packaging Material

Food packaging is costly to consumers and generates a huge volume of packaging waste, especially in Indonesia. Prior studies have neglected to construct a causal sustainable consumption intention model in food industry and link to the consumer willingness to pay under preference uncertainties. To address the gaps, this study explores consumer attributes to build a causal sustainable consumption intention model and takes the model to address the consumer willingness to pay under preference uncertainties. This study proposes a causal model that integrates five aspects of sustainable consumption intention model: (1) sustainable consumption knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors; (2) government policy and regulation on sustainable consumption; (3) recycled packaging eco-labeling certification; (4) supply chain innovation and infrastructure; and (5) sustainable product purchasing features. This study uses the fuzzy Delphi method to confirm the reliability and validate the criteria and applies cause and effect model to address the causal model. In addition, this study collects 428 valid responses to address the willingness to pay for causal sustainable consumption intention model and a cognitive best-worst choice experiment to confirm the model in the food industry. The result reveals that recycled packaging eco-labeling certification is the major aspect for enhancing the model, followed by government policy and regulation and supply chain innovation and infrastructure. In practice, consumers incur inconvenience in purchasing sustainable food products but prefer recycled packaging material at a standardized price.

Building products and materials certification with ecolabel, the influence factor and best development strategy to be applied in Indonesia

In recent years, Indonesian people’s awareness of environmentally friendly products has begun to increase. This could be indicated when in 2015 The Ministry of Environment and Forestry of Indonesia launched the SNI Ekolabel, a standard for environmentally friendly products based on the condition of Indonesia. Moreover, in late of 2017, some of the building experts launched Green Label Indonesia, an ecolabel that more focuses on building products and materials. These two standards are intended to bolster the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially number 12. The problem is the number of the products that has been certified is still low. Through this research, it will be seen what factors drive a company to register its products on Ecolabel certification scheme. Where will be examined through a literature review with related themes and formulated models for further analysis with the Structured Equation Model (SEM). Then the SEM results will be used for the strategies selection that is calculated using the TOPSIS and IPA methods. The results of this research could be concluded, the best strategies to increase the company that applies to Eco-label are the strategies that are related to how to get a better profit and company image with Ecolabel.

Sustainable practices and product quality: Is there value in eco-label certification? The case of wine

In theory, eco-labels have great potential to reduce the environmental and social impact of products via consumer choice. In practice, the diffusion of eco-labels remains limited, with consumers expressing concerns about their value. One problem is a perceived tradeoff between the eco-label sustainable attributes and the quality of the product. In this paper, we examine whether this tradeoff is also perceived by product experts. Using the case of wine, we test the impact eco-labels have on experts' ratings of product quality. We use information about the quality of French wines from three major experts' guides, with information on third-party organic and biodynamic certified eco-labels, as well as self-declared eco-labels without third-party certification. Our findings, based on 128,182 wines, suggest that the third-party certified organic and biodynamic labels lead to improved ratings (+6.2 and + 5.6 percentage points respectively) as compared to conventional wines. These findings indicate that experts have a different appreciation of the quality of eco-certified wines than some consumers. However, self-declared eco-labels that include non-certified sustainable practices, received similar ratings to conventional wines in the best-case scenario. This indicates that non-certified sustainable practices can be associated with greenwashing and endanger the perceived value of eco-labels more generally.

Eco-Labels in the Tourism Sector in South Africa: Benefits and Barriers

The considerable increase in tourism activities over the years equates to notable economic and social benefits. Patent as one of the most emergent sectors of the global economy, the degree and prospect of tourism growth, however, raises concerns on its negative environmental and social impacts. Conserving these environments is of utmost importance as damage to environmental quality can eventually destroy the tourism industry. The launch of eco-labels to environmentally vulnerable tourism organizations and destinations is presently being implemented in many countries in an effort to protect the natural and socio-cultural resources of a destination. A number of eco-labels exist within the tourism industry in South Africa. These eco-labels are anticipated to have a profound effect on the contribution towards sustainable tourism within the country as these are considered to be highly compatible with sustainable tourism initiatives. This study provides an overview of eco-labels in South Africa and examines the benefits and barriers associated with eco-label certification. A quantitative research approach was used, and the data was collected utilizing an online questionnaire. A census sampling approach was used to target 104 tourism businesses in South Africa that have eco-label certification. The key eco-labels targeted in the study were the Blue Flag, Fair Trade in Tourism, Heritage Environmental Management Company, and GreenLine - certified by Heritage. The study revealed that tourism businesses in South Africa do experience several benefits through eco-label certification. However, businesses also encounter many barriers with eco-label certification in terms of high costs associated with being certified, the lack of general public awareness regarding eco-labels and the absence of government support. Consequently, cost reduction, promotion of public awareness as well as government support are the main areas of improvement suggested by tourism establishments with regards to eco-labels.

Sustainable Consumption and Production: Exploring the Links with Resources Productivity in the EU-28

In the framework of the European Union’s Sustainable Development Policy, the promotion of sustainable consumption and production patterns has been a key issue. The explanation is given by their capacity to address social and economic development within the carrying capacity of ecosystems and decoupling economic growth from environmental degradation. The EU has established an extensive range of proposals on sustainable consumption and production (SCP), which include an energy- and resource-efficient economy, circular economy, waste prevention and recycling, among others. This paper contributes, by using both factorial and regression analysis, to the identification of fundamental constructs that define SCP in the EU-28, their links with resource productivity and the role of governments and enterprises in its improvement by means of investment in research, development and innovation over the period 2001–2018. Some recommendations to policy-makers are proposed in the paper in order to take actions directly on SCP, such as promoting the use of recycled raw materials in public works, or imposing the need for Ecolabel certification to contract with public administration.

Accounting for Attribute Non-attendance (ANA) in Chinese Consumers’ Away-from-Home Sustainable Salmon Consumption

It is critical to accurately assess consumer preference for sustainable seafood because they can use their purchasing power to shape the market. Much of the research on consumer preference for ecolabeled seafood fails to account for attribute non-attendance (ANA), which may result in biased estimation of preference for sustainable seafood. We elicit Chinese consumer preference for ecolabel certification of salmon fish entrées by accounting for ANA using two approaches. Our results reveal that the stated ANA approach is a more straightforward and robust approach to deal with ANA in choice experiments. Our results also show that consumers are willing to pay the highest for ecolabel certification among all the attributes examined. With a strong preference for ecolabeled seafood, policy development directed at the sustainable food system could, in the long run, improve the sustainability of marine resources in China as well as in the world.

Sustainable Practices and Product Quality: Is There Value in Eco-Label Certification? The Case of Wine

Sustainable Practices and Product Quality: Is There Value in Eco-Label Certification? The Case of Wine

Carbon footprint of frozen pangasius fillet: a case study

Carbon footprint has become an important issue in the world trade, and can potentially be incorporated into sustainability and ecolabel certification schemes. As the leading seafood producers, Indonesia should start to reduce the carbon footprint of its seafood products, especially those destined for export, to minimize the impact on the environment and to safeguard its product in the world market. The present study aimed to determine the carbon footprint of frozen pangasius fillets produced at PT. KMM, Purwakarta. The carbon footprint was calculated using the Life Cycle Assessment method with a standard emission factor during 3-month observation covering post-harvest, processing, and distribution. Results showed that the total carbon footprint of frozen pangasius fillets was 1.48 kg CO2eq/kg product. The highest emission was in the processing, freezing, and storage, i.e., about 71% (mainly from electricity, ice, and refrigerant), of which refrigerant contributed 41%. The lowest CO2 emission was in the administration office and lighting (1.4%).

Strategy to Improve the Implementation of Eco-Labeling Global Aquaculture Alliance-Best Aquaculture Practices (GAA-BAP) in Shrimp Processing Industry PT. XYZ Sidoarjo

The demands of international consumers for eco-labeling products and supported by Indonesia's considerable shrimp export potential, should be an opportunity for the shrimp processing industry in Indonesia which has implemented GAA-BAP eco-labeling certification. The purpose of this study was formulated as a good strategy to improve the application of GAA-BAP eco-labeling in the shrimp processing industry. This research was a descriptive study with a case study. The research had done at PT. XYZ Sidoarjo. Data were collected through observation, interview, focus group discussion (FGD) and secondary data collection. The data were analyzed using IFE and EFE matrix, IE matrix, and SWOT analysis. The result showed that the strategy could be used to increase the application of GAA-BAP eco-labeling were implemented Strengths-Opportunities (S-O) and combined it with development or stability according to company position in IE matrix. The strategy could be chosen to improve the application GAA-BAP eco-labeling at shrimp processing industry were optimized human resources, eco-labeling guidance, company location, and market network; utilized the company location and market network to increase the procurement of raw materials; maintained the good work integrity and the quality of eco-labeling guidance; also increased the quality of GAA-BAP eco-labeling products.