National Ecolabelling Criteria Development for Personal Care & Cosmetic Products and Environmental Impact Assessment in The Value Chain

In parallel with the increase of environmental awareness, consumers have begun to look for more environmentally friendly products, which creates a need for companies to prove the green nature of their products. One of the industries which cause negative environmental impacts throughout the supply chain is the personal care and cosmetic products industry; for this reason, the development of national ecolabelling criteria for the certain groups of personal care and cosmetic products (bar soap, liquid soap, shampoo, hair conditioner, shower gel, hand and body cream, shaving soap and shaving foam), which include all that are consumed and produced in Turkey, has been considered necessary. Within this framework, the sector’s approach to environmentally friendly products and ecolabel was evaluated by applying life cycle assessment (LCA) as the decision-making mechanism. On the other hand, the internationally recognized ecolabel standards are preferred by the countries with high import and export capacity. As a result of LCA studies, national environmental label criteria have been developed inclusively for personal care and cosmetic products that can be both rinse-off and leave-on. It has been achieved that the environmental and socio-economic aspects of the products are evaluated based on the sustainable production and consumption principles. It is expected that the adoption of Turkey Ecolabel System, which has a voluntary basis, will increase the market shares of products and the competitive capacities of the companies besides the environmental benefits.