Page 86 - Çevre Şehir İklim İngilizce - Sayı 3

The Importance Of Ecolabels in Sustainable Production and Consumption:
Turkish Environmental Labelling System

for consumers to obtain reliable information without any effort, and to be
informed about the reusability, repairability, or recyclability of the product/
service they would like to purchase. It is stated that eco-labels are an important
tool for behavior change that will guide consumers to more environment-
friendly purchasing decisions (Meis-Harris et al., 2021). However, at this point,
it is essential that the eco-label is based on accurate and transparent criteria,
visible, environmentally reliable, appreciated, and penetrated into the market,
briefly, that the eco-label is “considered as a reliable communication tool”.
Otherwise, it is not possible for eco-label systems to serve as a target function.

2. Eco-Labeling Systems and Green Deal

European Green Deal, which was designed by the EU as both a program for
combating climate change and transitioning to a new economic model and
announced on December 11, 2019, generally aims at a circular and climate-
neutral economy. The EU Green Deal is a strategy that aims to reduce the
consumption of natural resources and zero out net greenhouse gas emissions
by 2050 with a modern, efficient use of resources and a competitive economy
in the EU. Our country, which carries out almost half of its international trade
with EU countries, follows closely the goals and requirements of the European
Green Deal. In this context, the “Green Deal Action Plan” was published by the
Turkish Ministry of Commerce in 2021. Under “2.1. A Green and Environmental
Economy” of the Plan, the goal of mainstreaming our national eco-label system,
the Turkish Environmental Labeling System, and exploring and evaluating the
possible cooperation areas with the EU in this regard was highlighted.
One of the basic elements in the implementation of the EU Green Deal
Strategy is the realisation of the circular economy approach. The circular
economy approach is considered as the main element in sustainability policies
not only by the EU but also by many countries and international organizations.
The European Commission defines the circular economy as “an economic
system that maintains the added value of products for as long as possible and
eliminates losses”. Circular economy, which has many alternative definitions
in the literature, is broadly described as “an economic system where the end-
of-life concept is replaced by the concepts of reduction, reuse alternatively,
recycle and recovery of the materials in the production/distribution and
consumption process” (Tsend et al., 2020). Therefore, the circular economy
emerges as an umbrella concept aimed at closing material cycles with the
goal of improved environmental performance. On the other hand, it is stated
that this economic system, which should be implemented in order to solve
the environmental problems that are increasingly threatening sustainable
development, can only be possible with the implementation of new business

Year 2 / Issue 3 / January 2023 71