Blue Angel

The Blue Angel is a German eco-label for products and services [7]. The eco-label was introduced in 1978 and was one of the first worldwide environmental labels. The Blue Angel is an official label since it is owned by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety in Germany. The award criteria are established by the Federal Environmental Agency in Germany with the support of scientific institutes and the industry. 

Currently in 2012, the Blue Angel has around 80 product categories, and more than 10,000 products have been awarded the Blue Angel. The Blue Angel has developed two product categories that are relevant for the leather sector. These are low-emission upholstery leather and footwear. 

The Blue Angel eco-labels for leather may be awarded to the product leather which has been manufactured in an environmentally friendly way, from the health point of view does not have an adverse impact on the living environment and does not contain any hazardous substances that would significantly impede recycling. 

The criteria for the Blue Angel eco-labels go beyond legal provisions. The Blue Angel eco-label includes a number of different criteria for leather which are related to the following ... 

Table 17.2 Limit requirements of the Blue Angel for particularly low-emission hard-copy devices (RAL, 2006).

Armstrong J. T., Meeker G. P., Huneke J. C., and Wasserburg G. J. (1982) The Blue Angel I. The mineralogy and petrogenesis of a hibonite inclusion from the Murchsion meteorite. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 46, 575—595. 

Eco-labels are the simplest format for consumers but the most inflexible format for manufacturers in that they require that 100% of their standard criteria be met. Examples of eco-labels include the Energy Star label in the United States and the Blue Angel in Germany. Because over 20 different eco-labels with different criteria are in use around the world, manufacturers may need to consider multiple eco-label criteria sets (Modi 1995). 

ISO Type I Environmental Labelhng Most of the eco-labelling schemes can be included in this type. This programme is a voluntary, multiple criteria-based, third-party programme. It awards a license for a product type considering the whole life cycle of this product category. Blue Angel, EU Ecolabel and Nordic Swan can be included in this class. 

Blue Angel is a German eco-label established in 1978 and is the oldest eco-label in the world. The criteria are established by the German Federal Environment Agency. The label has four different protection goals health, climate, water and resources. Blue Angel contributes both environmental and consumer protection (Uil-16 Url-17 Url-18). 

Url-16 http //www.nordic-ecolabel.org/portals/paper/what-is-in-a-label/blue-angel/20.08.2014 (date received 29.08.14.). 

The most effective in this respect are Type-1 labels provided in ISO 14024 (some examples of Type 1 labels applying to textiles and clothing products are GOTS, European Ecolabel, Nordic Swan, and Blue Angel). Much effort will be needed, though, to increase consumer awareness of what particular labels mean and of their true contents. 

The producers of computers, printers, monitors, copiers and keyboards would all like to utilise environmental labels like the Blauer Angel (Blue Angel) or the TC099 to their equipment. A feature common to all the award guidelines is that they largely exclude the use of plastics incorporating flame retardants that contain halogen. 

Various labelling schemes operating in Europe that confirm the absence of brominated FRs from the products so marked include an EC one, Germany s Blue Angel plus the TCO and White Swan systems in Scandinavia. 

Starting in Germany in 1993, requirements that excluded the use of halogenated flame-retardants and plastics for copiers, PCs and printers were introduced. These were given eco-labels ( Blue Angel Eco-label). TVs that did contain them were deprecated in consumer magazines. 

Environmental certification programs include Green Cross and Green Seal in the United States, the Blue Angel program in Germany, the EcoMark in Japan, and the Environmental Choice label in Canada. 

Generally speaking, applications that contain power supplies or that are electrical in nature require flame retardance in compliance with Underwriters Laboratory standards and test protocols that include UL-94 HB, V2, V1, VO, 5VA, and 5VB ratings. Environmental standards require no bromine or chlorine in accordance with TCO-99 and Blue Angel. 

EnvirOTimental trends are having an impact on electrical applications. Waste legislation includes WEEE (Waste of Electrical and Electronic Equipment) directive 2002/%/EC which holds producers responsible for collection and recovery of materials at end of Ufe. Additionally, materials that contain bromine-based flame retardants must be removed from the waste and handled separately. In restrictions on use of hazardous substances (ROHS) directive 2002/95/EC, the use of various hazardous materials is restricted. These include lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyls, and polybrominated diphenyl ether. Since the introduction of Blue Angel in Germany in 1978, several other eco-labels have been implemented. These include TCO (Sweden), Nordic Swan, Milieukeur (Netherlands), and the EU Ecolabel. The general purpose of these labels is to provide cmisumers with information relating to the environmental impact of the products they purchase. 

The flight line behind a Blue Angels jet erupts in flames during a pyrotechnics display. (AP Photo)... 

So far, relatively few products have received an EU eco-label award. This may be due to the fact that there are already numerous national, international and independent schemes in place. One of the earliest eco-labeling schemes was the Blue Angel, introduced in Germany in 1977. The Nordic Countries (Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark and Iceland) have been particularly active with several eco-labels in operation (e.g. the Nordic or White Swan). Within the European textile industry the Oko-tex label is widely promoted by the textile retailers. 

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