Ecolabelling: Creating a Roadmap for a Comprehensive System for Product Labeling of Environmental Impacts Prospectus Presentation NRE701 Master’s Project 2/7/2005 Justin Schott Christina Turney Kevin Bolon Keita Fujihira Masaki Hori Advisor: Prof. Stuart Batterman

Client Primary: NSF International (National Sanitation Foundation)  An independent, not-for-profit organization  Focus on food, water, indoor air, and the environment  Third-party conformity assessment services  Represents all stakeholders, primarily industry, the regulatory community, and the public at large “committed to making the world a safer place for consumers” Secondary: This project will also seek the assistance of: Product Manufactures, and Retailers

Overview of Project Main research question How can consumer product manufacturing companies and associated certification companies be motivated to adopt a useful ecolabel? Purpose of Project: To make a contribution towards increasing information availability and transparency by: 1) Demonstrating that a private system of ecolabelling is possible 2) Providing a roadmap to assist companies to adopt an ecolabelling system Background

Why Ecolabelling? If quantifiable information is provided about the environmental impact of consumer products;  Consumers can compare products and change their purchase decisions.  Retailers can compare products and change their product offerings.  Producers can measure their performance and modify product design.  Policy makers can compare sectors and direct their efforts towards those with large impacts. Background

Current Situation In the U.S., there is no widespread availability of useful information for making decisions Background  Confusing information  No information  Insufficient information  Misleading information Environmentally safe Biodegradable Non toxic ?

Existing Ecolabels A large number of high quality labeling systems exist, many based on the ISO standard for ecolabelling.  U.S.  International Background

Research Questions  What are the current systems, and what determines their success (or failure)?  Can a private product evaluation company like NSF profit by offering ecolabelling services?  What type of labeling system can promote continuous improvement in environmental performance of products?  What type of labeling system can shift consumer purchase decisions away from products with large environmental impacts?

Research Procedures  Literature review of existing systems -- metrics, certification, consumer response  Label evaluations – weighing costs, accuracy, and consumer response  Surveys – corporate and consumer interest / willingness to pay  Retail experiment – can we demonstrate economic feasibility through or increased market share or higher prices?

Project Deliverables  A recommendation for a type of label  A ranking of product categories that can be effectively labeled  An analysis of the label’s ability to accurately convey the a product’s environmental impact to a customer  A report of the profitability of various labeling systems  A Roadmap for establishing a system of labeling.