ABSTRACT
Approaches to greener purchasing can focus on the environmental management system that the supplier has in place, or on the features of the product itself. A focus on the product, on the other hand, might simply take account of its inherent environmental features—recyclability or re-usability, energy or resource consumption, and its impact on disposal. Increasingly, the independent eco-label is being regarded by manufacturers as one measure of excellence in their products that differentiates them from others on the market. For corporate buyers of goods, the eco-label provides a ready means of meeting the requirements of environmental purchasing policies. Most eco-labelling schemes, including the European Union scheme, use life-cycle assessment (LCA) as a basis for developing criteria for products. LCA is only a tool for decision-making, which cannot replace the actual decision-making itself. In line with this, a clear distinction should be made between the procedure for drawing up ecological criteria, and the life-cycle assessment itself.
