The Blue Angel - Der Blaue Engel
Aim
- Environmental protection and health protection
- Stimulate competition for ecological innovation and quality
Product/service group
Consumer goods and services which are particularly beneficial for the environment in an all-round consideration with high standards of occupational health and safety. So far almost all white goods and office appliances could be labelled. Concerning the building sector only building materials out of waste paper or glass exist as a product group.
Issuing body & criteria
The label is administered by the Federal Environmental Agency, who is responsible for the development of requirements for the award. The quality assurance and product labelling institute RAL Deutsches Institut für Gütesicherung und Kennzeichnung e.V. is issuing the label. All technical demands placed on products and services are decided by the independent Environmental Label Jury.
Requirements to obtain the label:
- economical use of raw materials, production, usage, service life and disposal
- basic criteria for different product groups, specialised for particular product
- e.g. computer monitor: power consumption in sleep mode (CRT < 10 W, LCD < 3 W), recyclable design, noise emission, etc.
Criteria for the use for advertising purposes:
- The Blue Angel may only be used on the product itself or for directly advertising this particular product
- the individual product must comply with the Basic Criteria for the product group concerned
- a contract for the use of the label must be concluded with RAL
The Federal Environmental Agency collects and examines the proposals before forwarding them to the Environmental Label Jury which twice a year selects those products which are particularly suited to be promoted by the Blue Angel. They then will undergo a closer inspection (test orders).
In principle, the Blue Angel can be obtained by all manufacturers or distributors - no matter whether their companies are located in Germany or abroad.
Costs
- 153 EUR per application to the awarding body RAL
- contract for the use of the label including a graded annual contribution (depends on the total annual turnover of the product been labelled)
Control mechanisms
The award is limited for a fixed period of three years and can be renewed at the end of the period by the Environmental Label Jury. Compliance with the criteria is controlled by independent institutions.
Relevance on the market
About 3,700 products and services in 80 product categories carry the Blue Angel. 56 % of the German population knows the symbol of the Blue Angel. With new product categories, the influence of the label is constantly expanding.
The extensive labelling process and the institutions involved guarantee a high credibility. The Blue Angel represents an accepted and reliable guidance for consumers in different market segments.
What are the success factors, what can be learned by the Blue Angel?
The Blue Angel is the first and oldest environment-related label in the world for products and services. In 1978 the first six awards were granted by the Environmental Label Jury. Today, about half of the German population knows the label. One success factor is that the Blue Angel is awarded to a wide range of (well known) products and services. Every consumer could encounter with the label in many different situations.
The 25. birthday is the reason for a big promotion campaign on the Blue Angel with information brochures and advertisements in magazines to make the label even more known.
