Another progress is made in Korea's 'green products' history.
According to the Ministry of Environment (Minister Yoo Young-sook) on April 5, there will be a celebration to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Eco-Labelling Program. The program was implemented to provide information to the consumers about the products that contribute to reduction of environmental pollution and energy saving by affixing Eco-Labels and ultimately to induce sustainable development.
Performances of Eco-Labelling Program are as follows:
1. 20 years of Eco-Labelling Program - increase of certified items by 38 times and products by 100 times
In year 2012, certified items and products have increased to 151 items and 8,170 products each, rating the top five out of 48 countries all over the world which are implementing the program. Among the 151 certified items, 149 are stationary, office supply, furniture, paint, wall paper, detergent, toilet paper, electric appliance, etc. and 2 are from service area such as hotel service and environmentally friendly auto insurance. Certified products are 8,170 (1,635 companies) in total. Compare to the numbers in 1992, the initial stage of the program, certified items have increased by 38 times, from 4 to 151, and certified products by 100 times, from 82 (37 companies) to 8,170. In the beginning, number of certified items was only 4; recycled paper and toilet paper, discarded recycled plastic product and spray.
2. Eco-Labelling Program under the government’s control – purchase performance to increase by 6 times in 6 years
Purchasing performance has increased over six times from KRW 254.9 billion in 2004 to about KRW 1.6 trillion in 2010. Also, certified products have increase by over 5 times from 1,536 in 2004 to 8,170 in 2012, since the introduction of the program.
In the center of such changes, there have been numbers of policies such as program for public agencies' compulsory procurement in 2004 and agreement with the industries for voluntary green procurement since 2005 for promoting the supply of green products.
As a government running certification system which was introduced by the Ministry in 2004, numerous efforts have been made to promote the procurement by the public through systems such as green store designation and green card application.
In addition, policy to promote the green procurement based on Eco-Labelling Program was introduced in the UN report on sustainable development in 2012.
3. Eco-Labelling Program – expanding to the world
Eco-Labelling Program has advanced to international level through reinforcing tie with relevant organizations abroad, reflecting the international standards, etc.
Korea Environmental Industry & Technology Institute (KEITI) which runs the program has been broadening its performances internationally, since their joining of Global Ecolabelling Network (GEN) in 1997. Since 2002, there has been active mutual exchange with international ecolabelling organizations by concluding Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) with ecolabelling programs of seven other countries including Japan, Australia, China and Northern Europe. In 2012, ‘Global Ecolabelling Network Internationally Coordinated Ecolabelling System (GENICES) Certificate’ was acquired solidifying the Korea’s Ecolabelling program.
To share the fruitful outcomes and encourage the companies who have been developing and producing environmentally friendly products, the Ministry and the institute will be celebrating the 20th anniversary on April 5. Companies will be awarded for their contribution to the development of Eco-Labelling Program for the last 20 years.
An official of the Ministry expressed the expectation towards Eco-Labelling Program hoping the program to position itself as a cogent instrument, connecting the green production and green consumption. He also added that the Ministry will make more efforts in improving current certification system and strengthening training and promotion programs to expand the procurement of green products to the public.
* Government press release (April 5)