Wales Strides Ahead with Fish Labelling Regs

Wales Strides Ahead with Fish Labelling Regs

Wales has implemented regulations for the labelling of Fish, making traceability a legal requirments for fishmen who land over 50 euros worth of fish in a given period.

It is yet to be seen how this informational requirement will be presented to consumers.

Fish Labelling in UK Supermarkets

WRAP - New Eco Label Proposal

Delegates at tomorrow's annual WRAP conference will hear how reuse is key to reducing carbon emissions in UK households and businesses, and will be a "major theme" of WRAP's work over the coming year.

However, says WRAP, those one million sofas only represent 17% of the total number discarded in a 12-month period. And, reusing one tonne of sofas has the same environmental benefit as recycling one tonne of plastics. Currently 83% of sofas that aren't reused are sent to landfill or for recycling. By doubling the number that are reused, the equivalent of 52,000 tonnes of CO2 could be saved, equal to taking 17,000 cars off the road each year.

Source: Edienet

Back Step on Dolphin Friendly Tuna Label in USA

Last week the WTO announced a decision that the Dolphin Safe ecolabel is illegal on the grounds that it unnecessarily restricts trade and effectively blocks non-US suppliers from the American market.

Mexico initially filed the case contending they were being barred from the US market because of the Dolphin Safe label. Mexico’s tuna industry was crippled when Mexican-caught fish could not obtain the Dolphin Safe label, causing US tuna brands to exclude them.

Courtesy of Eco Label Index

Eco Label Cut Waste in Half for French Hotel

Hotel La Perouse is an independent tourist accommodation located in the
city centre of Nantes, western France, and stands out for its commitment to the e n v i r o n m e n t a n d s u s t a i n a b l e development. It was one of the first hotels in the region to be awarded the EU Ecolabel in 2007 and its licence was recently renewed. After four years of working with the EU Ecolabel, the hotel Director, Gilles Cibert, can clearly see the improvements it has brought to his business and shares his experience: “When we decided to implement an ambitious environmental policy in 2007, we were mainly thinking about water consumption and energy savings.” To get the EU Ecolabel, however, the hotel had
to fulfill 37 mandatory criteria and 47 optional criteria covering various domains, in order to obtain the minimum number of points. For instance, one of the most demanding measures for the hotel was simply to stop the use of all individually-packaged products that are so common in tourist accommodations: soaps, shampoos, shower gels, and so on. It seemed obvious to the hotel team that the EU Ecolabel was right in that the hotel should stop using disposable bathroom products. After a customer’s stay, an average of 21 grammes remain on a 25 gramme bar of soap. Over the course of one year, this creates almost one ton of waste! However, the hotel team did not
know if customers were ready for a change like this. The hotel decided to conduct an online survey, which concluded that 75% of customers would be willing to be provided liquid soap dispensers as opposed to individually-sized portions.

Full Article on Hotel Waste Cuts with Eco Label

Environmental Consultants Bristol
Environmental Consultants Exeter

Carbon Labled Sales reach new high

Sales of products carrying labels that show the goods' carbon footprint are set to pass £2bn a year, say the scheme's operators.

The Carbon Trust, which oversees the accreditation programme, says nine out of 10 UK households bought a carbon-labelled product in the past 12 months.

Launched in 2007, the scheme covers more than 90 brands and 5,000 products, including pasta, bread and shampoo.

Critics question whether such schemes change people's purchasing behaviour.

Full Carbon Lable News Article

Eco Label for Ofgem

Its "green energy certified" label is designed to give users a real guide to who is doing most to source renewable power.

The idea is to reassure householders and small businesses that paying for green energy is actually worth it.

Energy companies are committed to using more renewable power.

Before the introduction of this new labelling plan, a supplier could claim to be helping the environment, but in fact simply be meeting its existing promise to use renewable energy.

'Go green'

Now, suppliers will have to demonstrate to an independent panel of experts that they are taking extra steps to cut their use of non-renewable power in order to merit the "green" label.

Full Article on Ofgem Eco Label

Bad Eco Labels on Fish

Some Chilean sea bass labelled in shops as sustainable are not what they claim to be, researchers have found. In a study published today in Current Biology¹, some fish bearing an eco-label were found not to come from the certified fishery; others weren't Chilean sea bass at all.

Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides), marketed as 'Chilean sea bass', became popular with consumers for their buttery flavour and tender, flaky texture. The fish live for up to 50 years in the deep, frigid waters surrounding Antarctica, and take 10-20 years to reach maturity, so they are vulnerable to over-fishing.

Catching them "is not like fishing for fish — it's almost like logging for trees", says Stephen Palumbi, a marine population biologist at Stanford University in California, who was not involved with the study. "It takes that long for these fish to grow up and be ready for market. That's why the fish got in trouble."

Full Sustainable Fish News Storey