Characterization of the Cradle to Cradle Certified™ Products Program in the Context of Eco-labels and Environmental Declarations

Nikolay Minkov, Vanessa Bach and Matthias Finkbeiner
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Nikolay Minkov: Department of Environmental Technology, Technische Universität Berlin, 10623 Berlin, Germany
Vanessa Bach: Department of Environmental Technology, Technische Universität Berlin, 10623 Berlin, Germany
Matthias Finkbeiner: Department of Environmental Technology, Technische Universität Berlin, 10623 Berlin, Germany

Sustainability, 2018, vol. 10, issue 3, 1-20

Abstract: (1) Background: The Cradle to Cradle Certified™ Products Program (C2C Certified for short) is a scheme for the certification of products that meet the criteria and principles of the Cradle to Cradle ® design approach. The objective of this paper is to characterize C2C Certified as an instrument for external communication in the context of environmental labeling and declarations. (2) Method: An eco-label characterization scheme consisting of 22 attributes was used to analyze C2C Certified. In addition, it was compared with the established standardization labeling typologies, namely Type I and Type III. This was further illustrated in an example within the building and construction sector. (3) Results: C2C Certified can be classified neither as a Type I, nor a Type III label. The main weaknesses of C2C Certified from a labeling perspective are: the generic, but not product-specific focus of the awarding criteria, the lack of a life cycle perspective, and the incompletely transparent stakeholder involvement procedure. Nevertheless, for certain attributes (e.g., the awarding format), C2C Certified provides practical solutions and goes beyond a Type I eco-label. Substantial similarities between Type III declarations and C2C Certified cannot be identified. (4) Conclusions: The main advantages and shortcomings of C2C Certified from a labeling perspective are pointed out. The approach shows similarities to a Type I eco-label, and efforts toward conformance with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) labelling standards would result in improving its comparability, recognition, and robustness.

Keywords: cradle to cradle; environmental labeling; eco-label; EPD; characterization; criteria; ISO (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (12)

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