Panel 1
Stefania Fusani, Piera Pellegrino, Astrid Rauner
The EU Ecolabel is the European Union’s voluntary ecological quality label, established under Regulation (EC) No 66/2010, as amended. It identifies products and services with a reduced environmental impact throughout their entire life cycle, while also ensuring high performance standards. This indicator shows the number of valid certifications issued by the Italian Competent Body to companies applying for their products and services, which stand out on the Italian market for their attention to environmental protection and consumer well-being. The number of licences and certified products/services increased over the period from 1998 to 2024. As of 2024, there are 538 valid EU Ecolabel licences in Italy, covering a total of 16,327 certified products and services, distributed across 17 active product/service groups.
Licences and products/services certified with the EU Ecolabel can be regarded as a response indicator. They represent the “supply of products/services with reduced environmental impact” offered by businesses and, consequently, reflect the demand for “more sustainable consumption” by consumers. This highlights the environmental awareness of both the production sector and consumers. The total number of EU Ecolabel licences does not always correspond to the total number of EU Ecolabel-certified companies, as a single company may obtain multiple licences for different product groups. Licences are in fact issued per EU Ecolabel product group type, not per company. Each granted licence is associated with one or more certified products/services. EU Ecolabel-certified products have a reduced environmental impact throughout their entire life cycle, as they comply with criteria based on Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) studies, while maintaining high performance and environmental standards. The EU Ecolabel promotes products that: reduce environmental impacts, reduce the use of raw materials and energy, have a longer lifespan, reduce emissions and waste, minimise the use of toxic and/or hazardous substances, ensure reliable and transparent information, while maintaining performance standards equivalent to similar non-certified products. The licence is a contract, requested by the company, for the use of the label on certified products and services. The number of certified products corresponds, on the market, to millions of items sold within that product category. The services currently eligible for EU Ecolabel certification are “Tourist accommodation establishments” and “Indoor cleaning services”. The indicator considered therefore represents an expression of awareness, on the part of companies, of the importance of environmental quality, in line with the principles of environmental sustainability promoted by the European Community.
Describe the evolution, in Italy, of the supply of products and services with reduced environmental impact. In particular, describe the development of business interest in environmental product certification.
- Regulation (EC) No 66/2010
- Regulation (EC) No 782/2013
The relevant legislation does not set quantitative targets, as the EU Ecolabel is one of the voluntary instruments of European environmental policy. The aim of the Regulation is to steer production and consumption, and thereby the market, towards products with a reduced environmental impact.
- Law No. 221 of 28 December 2015 – "Provisions on environmental matters to promote green economy measures"
- Legislative Decree No. 50/2016 and Legislative Decree No. 36/2023 – New Public Procurement Code
Each product/service group is regulated by a specific EU Decision establishing the criteria for the award of the EU Ecolabel. The following Decisions relate to the product/service groups with the highest number of licences:
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Commission Decision (EU) 2018/680 on the award of the EU Ecolabel for indoor cleaning services
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Commission Decision (EU) 2017/175 on the award of the EU Ecolabel for tourist accommodation establishments
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Commission Decision (EU) 2019/70 on the award of the EU Ecolabel for graphic paper, tissue paper and tissue products
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Commission Decision (EU) 2017/1217 on the award of the EU Ecolabel for hard surface cleaning products
Panel 2
- ISPRA, Annuario dei dati ambientali, anni vari
At the address http://ec.europa.eu/ecat/ it is possible to consult the ECAT (E-catalogue), the European online registry containing all products and services certified with the EU Ecolabel in Europe.
Development of an indicator for the "market penetration of EU Ecolabel green products".
Data quality assessment
ISPRA (Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale)
National, regional
1998-2024
Indicator assessment
Annual count of EU Ecolabel licences issued in Italy and the total number of certified products and services. The count includes all active licences and their associated certified products, broken down by product group.
In 2024, the number of valid EU Ecolabel licences in Italy increased by 16% compared to the previous year, rising from 464 to 538 (Table 1 and Figure 1). The product/service groups with the highest number of licences were: “Indoor cleaning services” (Commission Decision 2018/680/EU) with 205 licences; “Tourist accommodation establishments” (Commission Decision 2017/175/EU) with 77 licences; “Hard surface cleaning products” (Commission Decision 2017/1217/EU) with 50 licences; and “Tissue paper and tissue paper products”, which, following the entry into force of the new criteria contained in Commission Decision 2019/70/EU, saw many companies renew their contracts and others obtain the label for the first time, totaling 41 licences (Figure 2).
The trend in licences and certified products/services is characterised by long-term growth, albeit with periods of decline mainly due to specific regulatory events. In particular, a slight decrease was observed in 2010, attributable to companies needing to align their licence usage with the new criteria published. From 2011, the trend resumed growth until 2016, when a subsequent reduction in the number of licences and products was recorded. This decline was due not only to the aforementioned reason but also to the withdrawal of certain licences by the Italian Competent Body, as well as the decision by some licence holders to relinquish the label.
In 2017 and 2018, the decrease in certified products resulted from companies terminating their EU Ecolabel licence contracts, which were associated with several thousand products—particularly those within the “Hard coverings” group. In 2018, the drop in licences was due to the expiration of numerous licences granted to tourist accommodations and campsites, as well as the entry into force of revised EU Ecolabel criteria for various product groups (especially detergents), to which existing licence holders had to conform.
With the publication of Commission Decision 2021/476/EU for “Hard coverings”, a large number of product licences expired in 2022, leading to a reduction in the total number of EU Ecolabel certified products (Table 3).
Considering the total number of EU Ecolabel certified products, 2023 saw a partial recovery driven by applications from manufacturing companies within the following categories: “Tissue paper and tissue paper products”, “Textile products”, and “Hard surface cleaning products”.
From 2019 to 2024, the trend was positive, with an increase both in the number of licences and in the number of certified products and services (Figure 1), despite no licences being approved after 31 July 2023 due to the conclusion of the three-year mandate of the Ecolabel Ecoaudit Committee.
Data
Table 1: Evolution of the EU Ecolabel in Italy
ISPRA
The data are cumulative
Table 2: Number of active EU Ecolabel licenses in Italy by product/service group
ISPRA
(*) Modification of the product group name following the publication of a new decision
(-) Indicates that the data is not available because it is included in another product/service group or due to the absence of relevant legislation
It should be noted that data for certain product/service groups are not separately identifiable as the products/services fall under other product/service groups:
− “Camping services” within “Tourist accommodation establishments” (Commission Decision 2017/175/EU);
− “Interior paint products” within “Exterior and interior paint products” (Commission Decision 2015/886/EU);
− “Multi-purpose/sanitary cleaning detergents” within “Hard surface cleaning products” (Commission Decision 2017/1217/EU).
Table 3: Number of EU Ecolabel certified products/services by product group in Italy
ISPRA
(*) Name of the product group modified following the publication of a new decision
(-) Indicates that the data are not identifiable because they are included within another product/service group or due to the absence of relevant legislation
It should be noted that data for certain product/service groups are not separately identifiable as the products/services fall under other product/service groups:
− “Camping services” within “Tourist accommodation establishments” (Commission Decision 2017/175/EU);
− “Interior paint products” within “Exterior and interior paint products” (Commission Decision 2015/886/EU);
− “Multi-purpose/sanitary cleaning detergents” within “Hard surface cleaning products” (Commission Decision 2017/1217/EU).
Table 4: Regional distribution of EU Ecolabel licences (2024)
ISPRA
Table 5 – Distribution by product group of EU Ecolabel certified products in Italy (2024)
ISPRA
Figure 1: Number of EU Ecolabel licences and certified products/services in Italy
ISPRA
The data are cumulative
Figure 2: Distribution of EU Ecolabel licences in Italy by product/service group (2024)
ISPRA
Figure 3: EU Ecolabel licences issued by the Italian Competent Body by geographical area (2024)
ISPRA
Figure 4: Regional distribution of EU Ecolabel licences (2024)
ISPRA
Figure 5: Distribution by product group of EU Ecolabel certified products in Italy (2024)
ISPRA
In 2024, there are 538 valid EU Ecolabel licences in Italy, covering a total of 16,327 certified products and services distributed across 17 active product and service groups (Table 5 and Figure 2). The territorial distribution of EU Ecolabel licences issued by the Italian Competent Body (Ecolabel Section of the Committee for Ecolabel and Ecoaudit) shows a clear predominance of licences granted in the North (59.7%), followed by the Centre with 20.3%, and the South and Islands with 19.5%. Finally, 3 licences (0.5%) are assigned to companies with registered offices abroad (Figure 3).
The Italian regions with the highest total number of EU Ecolabel licences (products and services) are Lombardy (96 licences), Veneto (59 licences), Lazio (56 licences), Piedmont (53 licences), and Trentino-Alto Adige (51 licences) (Table 4 and Figure 4). In Lombardy, Veneto and Piedmont, the majority of licences pertain to products, whereas in Lazio and Trentino-Alto Adige, services constitute the more significant share. Indeed, within the service sectors (“tourist accommodation” and “cleaning services”), Lazio leads with 49 licences for cleaning services, followed by Trentino-Alto Adige with a total of 38 licences (21 for tourist accommodation and 17 for cleaning services) and Sicily with 36 licences (17 for tourist accommodation and 19 for cleaning services) (Table 4 and Figure 4).
The product group with the highest number of certified products remains “Tissue paper and tissue paper products” with 5,306 EU Ecolabel items, followed by “Textile products” (4,107) and “Hard surface cleaning products” (2,345) (Figure 5).
Following the entry into force of Law No. 221 of 28 December 2015, “Provisions on environmental matters to promote green economy measures”, and the Public Procurement Code (Legislative Decree No. 50 of 18 April 2016), which include provisions aimed at directly or indirectly promoting products and services bearing the EU Ecolabel in public procurement tenders, an increase in applications has been observed for certain products (e.g., detergents) and services (e.g., cleaning).
This indicator can be considered relevant for achieving Objective 2 of the 7th Environmental Action Programme, which envisages a transition towards a low-carbon economy through structural changes in production, technology and innovation, as well as consumption patterns and lifestyles that result in a reduction of the overall environmental impact of production and consumption.