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Mehmet Emin Birpınar, Ülkü Yetişet, et al.,

The information collected about the typical product composition is evaluated
and LCA analyses are performed in the next step. Cradle-to-grave LCA analysis is
conducted to determine the environmental impact of the target product/service
and more importantly, to identify their life cycle stages and the ones that make
much more contribution to the overall life cycle effects. Data collected through
pilot facility and survey studies are mainly used in the LCA studies; data from
the literature are also considered for incomplete or inconsistent data when
necessary. Criteria that are finalised by using the LCA results are disseminated,
as “draft criteria”, for having the opinions from relevant public institutions and
organisations, sector representatives, non-governmental organisations and other
stakeholders following the evaluation by the Technical Evaluation Committee. The
final draft criteria formed after taking the stakeholders’ opinions are submitted
to the Environmental Label Board. If the final draft criteria are approved by
the Environmental Label Board, the criteria are submitted to the Ministry for
publication, and if deemed appropriate by the Ministry, they are published.
When creating Environmental Label criteria for product or service groups,
as the main principles, it is required;
• To consider the environmental performance of products and services,
• To take into account the entire life cycle of products and services
• To reduce energy consumption, which has an adverse impact on climate
change and biodiversity, and to encourage the use of renewable energy,
• To reduce waste generation and emissions,
• To replace the replacement of harmful substances with safer substances
and/or methods, where possible,
• To minimize the environmental impact of products or services by
extending their service life and ensuring their reusability,
• To ensure a clear balance between environmental benefits and harms
of products or services at various life cycle stages by also taking into
account the health and safety aspects,
• To meet the requirements that will ensure that products or services
bearing environmental labels are suitable for planned use, to
minimize the number of experiments on animals as much as possible
as much as possible. Moreover, during the criterion development phase,
compliance with the relevant legislation and standards, in particular, provisions
of the Regulation on the Display of Energy and Other Resource Consumption
of Products through Labeling and Standard Product Information published in
the Official Gazette No. 28130 of 2/12/2011 is also taken into consideration.
Transparency stands out as an important feature in the Environmental Label
System. During the development and revision of the criteria, the opinions

78 Journal of Environment, Urbanization and Climate