ISO 14021 Updated – Environmental Labelling

ISO 14021, “Environmental labels and declarations – Self-declared environmental claims (Type II environmental labelling),” has just been revised.  The new 2nd Edition, dated 3/15/2016, replaces the 1st Edition from 1999 and its Amendment 1 (12/15/2011).  ISO has notified us that this is a minor revision.  It does not alter any legally required environmental information, claims or labelling.

The ISO 14021 is used for “self-declared” environmental claims.  This means that you’re going to use a label to communicate to consumers of your product.  This label may include statements, symbols or graphics.  Or it may be such information included in technical bulletins, advertising, and the like.  Since you are communicating a specific environmental aspect of your product (or packaging for example), its essential that it will hold up to verification, etc.

For this reason, the ISO 14021 provides you with the requirements you’ll need to meet when use use specific terms like “recycled content” and “degradable.”  It provides you with the correct usage information for various symbols and claims.  And it provides you with information on the relationship of this standard to ISO 14020 on environmental labelling in general.  Other useful features of this standard include Annex A, a simplified diagrammatic representation of a recycling system, and the comprehensive 68-item bibliography at the end of the publication.

If you use the ISO 14021 in your business, you’ll need to get a copy.  Of course it is essential that you use an authorized distributor like Document Center Inc. for your purchase to verify that copyright laws are met.  Search for and order all ISO standards at our webstore, www.document-center.com.  And here’s a direct link to the order page for ISO 14021.

Many folks have additional questions when they are working with this type of compliance information.  Here you’re in luck, for our staff has been working with standards for many years and can give you assistance with many of the issues standards users face.  Feel free to contact our staff by phone at 650-591-7600 or by email at info@document-center.com.  We’re your Standards Experts!

New ISO 18600 Series released on Packaging and the environment – Includes ISO 18601, ISO 18602, ISO 18603, ISO 18604, ISO 18605 and ISO 18606

Packaging standards seem to impact almost every industry, sector and supply chain we do business with.  So Document Center Inc. is please to announce that a new ISO 18600 series on Packaging and the Environment has just been released this month.  ISO Technical Committee 122 has developed these standards to allow organizations to make an environmental assessment of the impact of the packaging they develop and use throughout it’s life cycle.

The series provides first an overview of the new ISO standards and then focuses on three primary areas:  Optimization, Reuse and Recovery.  The goals are to:

  • reduce environmental impact,
  • support innovation in products, packaging and the supply chain,
  • avoid undue restrictions on the use of packaging, and
  • prevent barriers and restrictions to trade.

The ISO 18600 series consists of the following standards:

  1. ISO 18601:2013, Packaging and the environment – General requirements for the use of ISO standards in the field of packaging and the environment
  2. ISO 18602:2013, Packaging and the environment – Optimization of the packaging system
  3. ISO 18603:2013, Packaging and the environment – Reuse
  4. ISO 18604:2013, Packaging and the environment – Material recycling
  5. ISO 18605:2013, Packaging and the environment – Energy recovery
  6. ISO 18606:2013, Packaging and the environment – Organic recycling

Other ISO packaging standards referenced in this series include ISO 21067, “Packaging – Vocabulary,” ISO 14021, “Environmental labels and declarations — Self-declared environmental claims (Type II environmental labelling),” ISO/TR 17098, “Packaging material recycling — Report on substances and materials which may impede recycling,” (currently under development) and ISO/TR 16218, “Packaging and the environment — Processes for chemical recovery,” (again under development).

ISO standards are available in paper and pdf format from Document Center Inc. under license agreement (territorial restrictions may apply).  Purchase them at our webstore, www.document-center.com, or contact us by phone (650-591-7600), fax (650-591-7617) or email (info@document-center.com) for more information.