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Mehmet Emin Birpınar, Ülkü Yetişet, et al.,

In the last 12 years, the number of EU Eco-label products has increased by
more than four times. As of September 2022, 2270 licenses have been issued
for a total of 87485 products and services. The percentage of countries granted
with the licenses are Italy 16%, Germany 16%, Spain 15%, and France 15%.
Similarly, the distribution of labelled products is stated as 21% in Spain, 14%
in Italy, 12%, Germany, and 11% in France (EU, 2022). The growing success of
the EU Ecolabel demonstrates the growing interest of businesses, citizens and
retailers in green products and the transition to a green economy. According
to UNEP green economy, on one hand, reduces the adverse effects and
environmental risks on the environment; on the other hand, it increases
the wellbeing of societies (Pezikoğlu, 2016).

Along with all these positive developments, a recent study stated that, despite
the high demand for environment-friendly products in the EU, the demand for
the products bearing EU Ecolabel is not on the same level and indicated the
lack of a marketing/communication policy coordinated at the European level.
It also pointed out that the member states with weak national eco-labels, in
particular, should adopt a more proactive and comprehensive communication
strategy for the product groups to be chosen (Marrucci et al., 2021).

3.2. Nordic Swan Eco-Label System

Nordic Swan Eco-Label System is a system that is a member of the Global
Ecolabelling Network (GEN) and grants Type 1 eco-labels in accordance with
ISO 14024 standard. The system is capable of certifying 200 different products
in 55 different product categories. As of today, it is stated that more than
25,000 products with Nordic Swan labels are being sold in Nordic countries,
and this number is increasing every day (NordicSwan, 1989).
The Nordic Swan Eco-Label logo is based on the Nordic Council logo, which
symbolizes trust, integrity and freedom. Nordic Swan Eco-Label considers the
environmental impacts of goods and services through their entire life cycle
from raw material to waste and imposes strict requirements on climate change
and other environmental impacts as well as function and quality.
The Nordic Ecolabelling Association is responsible for setting sub-goals for
product and service groups related to the environment and the marketability
of the product and service. Nordic Ecolabelling Councils of the countries
involved in this system (Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Iceland) are
also organisations that approve the criteria defined for products and services
(NordicSwan, 1989).
In the process of developing the criteria, the environmental impacts of
the product throughout its life cycle are analyzed and a limited number of
requirements are defined as criteria for the most important environmental

74 Journal of Environment, Urbanization and Climate