factsheet: life & environmental certification
DESCRIPTION
Since 1992 it has co-financed pilot and demonstration projects that contribute to the implementation and development of EU environment policy and legislation. LIFE has supported public authorities and the private sector in developing environmental management schemes and raising awareness to decrease the impact of their activities. LIFE has helped identify barriers to uptake and pioneered the implementation of EU Ecolabel and EMAS procedures and other green certification in diverse public and private sector contexts.TRANSCRIPT
LIFE & Environmental certifi cationThe EU LIFE Programme
The LIFE Programme is the EU’s funding instrument for the environment and climate action. Since 1992 it has co-fi nanced pilot and demonstration projects that contribute to the implementation and development of EU environment policy and legislation. LIFE has supported public authorities and the private sector in developing environmental management schemes and raising awareness to decrease the impact of their activities. LIFE has helped identify barriers to uptake and pioneered
the implementation of EU Ecolabel and EMAS procedures and other green certifi cation in diverse public and private sector contexts.
Of the 4 171 projects supported by LIFE to date, 139 specifi cally deal with environmental certifi cation (Ecolabel, EMAS, ISO14000, ETV, etc), mobilising a total budget of some 150 million euros. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have coordinated the majority of these projects. These enterprises come from a range of manufacturing and service sectors, including: marine aquaculture, wine production, tourism, agriculture, horticulture, cleaning products, printing, retail, sport and events and hospitals.
Two successful environmental labelling LIFE projects are profi led below, followed by a list of 14 other notable projects. Further details about these, can be found in the LIFE project database: ec.europa.eu/environment/life/project/Projects/
Environment
Title: ECOSMA - Ecological Certifi cation of Products from Sustainable Marine Aquaculture Project number: LIFE07 ENV/D/000229 Coordinator: CRM - Coastal research and Management GbR Website: http://www.ecosma.de
Title: WINEC - Advanced systems for the enhancement of the environmental performance of WINEries in Cyprus Project number: LIFE08 ENV/CY/000455 Coordinator: University of Cyprus Website: www.eng.ucy.ac.cy/winec M
ARIN E
AQUACULTURE
ECOSMA The ECOSMA project brought together numerous stakeholders such as producers, retailers, scientists, supervisory authorities and consum-ers to initiate a discussion and develop criteria for organic aquaculture. A committee bringing together stakeholders in the aquaculture sector was created , which continued its’ activities ast er the project end date, under the association the “Bundesverband Aquakultur” (Federal Association of Aquaculture), which was founded in October 2011.
During the project, a wide range of dissemination activities, training pro-grammes and public events were carried out successfully. For example, a list of all eco-labels for fi sh and seafood found in Germany was compiled; a lecture showed the diff erences between conventional and sustainable aquaculture and highlighted the variety of eco-labels on the market; an educational game on consumption patterns in relation to fi sh and seafood was presented; the Kiel “Day on the quayside” initiated by the project has since become an annual street festival with training sessions and exhibi-tions about sustainable aquaculture.
The project demonstrated guidelines for calculating the CO2 emissions from each process and sub-process in the cultivation of seaweed and in the pro-duction of a seaweed extract. This CO2 footprinting exercise was a fi rst for the aquaculture sector, anywhere in the world, and followed the new proce-dures of the GHG Product Protocol. It also developed “Guidelines for sustain-able marine aquaculture”, which provide detailed information, including a business model, for sustainable marine aquaculture businesses.
CRM was the fi rst company in Germany to be certifi ed under EU Regula-tion ((EC) No 834/2007) on organic production and the labeling of organic products.
WINEC The ‘WINEC’ project has developed an environmental management sys-tem (EMS) and wastewater treatment plant for the Tsiakkas Winery in the Troodos Mountains. It is hoped that this will have an important demonstra-tion eff ect, since many small Cypriot wineries still spread their untreated effl uent in fi elds, thereby polluting groundwater resources. Wineries also consume large quantities of water in cleaning fermentation tanks, barrels and other equipment (approximately three to four litres per litre of wine produced).
The new wastewater treatment plant was developed by the University of Cyprus, the LIFE project benefi ciary. Pilot scale tests showed that the com-bined membrane bioreactor (MBR)/Solar Advanced Oxidation system was able to reduce chemical oxygen demand (COD) by more than 80%, as well as cutting the toxicity and phytotoxicity of the fi nal effl uent to zero.
The demonstration plant at Tsiakkas Winery has been operating regularly since October 2011, enabling the business to re-use the treated wastewa-ter to irrigate all its vineyards, with potential savings of up to 400 tonnes/yr of fresh water. The plant has the capacity to treat up to 1 500 tonnes/yr of water and the winery intends to install 200-300 tonne storage tanks to enable re-use of a signifi cant proportion of the treated water. In conjunc-tion with the University of Cyprus, the winery has also implemented steps to reduce the environmental impact of its processes.
Lessons from this “eco mapping” process fed into a good practice guide for improving the environmental performance of wineries and specifi cations for wastewater treatment plants, which was developed by the benefi ciary as part of the ‘WINEC’ project. The work also provided the impetus for Tsiakkas Winery in its quest for EMAS certifi cation (awarded in 2012).
W I N E
PRODUCTION
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© European Union, 2015Visit the LIFE website: ec.europa.eu/life
EcostepImplementation of a Integrated Managementsystem for small and medium enterprises
Coordinator: Hessisches Ministerium für Umwelt, Ener-gie, Landwirtschaft und Verbraucherschutz
DESTINATIONS Development of Strategies for Sustainable Tourism Investments in the Mediterranean Nations
Coordinator: Priority Actions Programme (PAP) of the Mediterranean Action Plan (MAP)
WEEELABEX WEEE LABEL OF EXCELLENCE. European Standards for Treatment and Recycling of E&E Waste and for Monito-ring the Processing Companies
Coordinator: Waste of Electrical and Electronic Equip-ment Forum
www.weee-forum.org/ LIFE07 ENV/B/000041
TRITECH ETV Pilot Scheme for an EU Environmental Technologies Verification System Incorporating Soil Remediation, Waste Water Treatment and Energy Related Techno-logies
Coordinator: Beta Technology Ltd
PROMISE Product Main Impacts Sustainability through Eco-com-munication
Coordinator: Regione Liguria Dipartimento Ambiente
http://www.lifepromise.it LIFE08 INF/IT/000312
E.C.C.E.L.S.A.Environmental Compliance based on Cluster Expe-riences and Local Sme-oriented Approaches
Coordinator: Scuola Superiore di Studi Universitari e di Perfezionamento Sant’Anna
LIFE07 ENV/IT/000515
HAproWINE Integrated waste management and life cycle assess-ment in the wine industry: From waste to high-value products
Coordinator: Fundación Patrimonio Natural de Castilla y León
www.haprowine.eu LIFE08 ENV/E/000143
GREEN COMMERCE Compromise for a reduction of the environmental impact of the retail sector
Coordinator: Conselleria de Industria, Comercio e Inno-vación
LIFE08 ENV/E/000138
SAGE10 Establishment of Impact Assessment Procedure as a tool for the sustainability of agroecosystem: the case of mediterranean olives
Coordinator: Benaki Phytopathological Institute
http://www.sage10.gr
EcostepImplementation of a Integrated Managementsystem for small and medium enterprises
Coordinator: Hessisches Ministerium für Umwelt, Ener-gie, Landwirtschaft und Verbraucherschutz
DESTINATIONS Development of Strategies for Sustainable Tourism Investments in the Mediterranean Nations
Coordinator: Priority Actions Programme (PAP) of the Mediterranean Action Plan (MAP)
PROMISE Product Main Impacts Sustainability through Eco-com-munication
Coordinator: Regione Liguria Dipartimento Ambiente
http://www.lifepromise.it LIFE08 INF/IT/000312
E.C.C.E.L.S.A.Environmental Compliance based on Cluster Expe-riences and Local Sme-oriented Approaches
Coordinator: Scuola Superiore di Studi Universitari e di Perfezionamento Sant’Anna
LIFE07 ENV/IT/000515
SAGE10 Establishment of Impact Assessment Procedure as a tool for the sustainability of agroecosystem: the case of mediterranean olives
Coordinator: Benaki Phytopathological Institute
http://www.sage10.gr
SUMFLOWER SUstainable Management of FLOriculture in WEstern Riviera
Coordinator: Università degli studi di Genova - Giardini Botanici Hanbury
http://www.sumfl ower.eu LIFE09 ENV/IT/000067
B.R.A.V.E.Better Regulation Aimed at Valorising Emas
Coordinator: Scuola Superiore di Studi Universitari e di Perfezionamento Sant’Anna
www.braveproject.eu LIFE10 ENV/IT/000423
GREENING BOOKSImproving the environmental performance of publications from design to lecture!
Coordinator: Acondicionamiento Tarrasense
http://greeningbooks.eu LIFE09 ENV/ES/000457
P.H.A.R.O.S.Playground harbour and research of sustainability
Coordinator: Regione Liguria
www.lifepharos.it LIFE04 ENV/IT/000437
WEEELABEX WEEE LABEL OF EXCELLENCE. European Standards for Treatment and Recycling of E&E Waste and for Monito-ring the Processing Companies
Coordinator: Waste of Electrical and Electronic Equip-ment Forum
www.weee-forum.org/ LIFE07 ENV/B/000041
TRITECH ETV Pilot Scheme for an EU Environmental Technologies Verification System Incorporating Soil Remediation, Waste Water Treatment and Energy Related Techno-logies
Coordinator: Beta Technology Ltd
HAproWINE Integrated waste management and life cycle assess-ment in the wine industry: From waste to high-value products
Coordinator: Fundación Patrimonio Natural de Castilla y León
www.haprowine.eu LIFE08 ENV/E/000143
GREEN COMMERCE Compromise for a reduction of the environmental impact of the retail sector
Coordinator: Conselleria de Industria, Comercio e Inno-vación
LIFE08 ENV/E/000138
B.R.A.V.E.Better Regulation Aimed at Valorising Emas
Coordinator: Scuola Superiore di Studi Universitari e di Perfezionamento Sant’Anna
www.braveproject.eu LIFE10 ENV/IT/000423
GREENING BOOKSImproving the environmental performance of publications from design to lecture!
Coordinator: Acondicionamiento Tarrasense
http://greeningbooks.eu LIFE09 ENV/ES/000457
P.H.A.R.O.S.Playground harbour and research of sustainability
Coordinator: Regione Liguria
www.lifepharos.it LIFE04 ENV/IT/000437
ECOMASS Eco-Efficient Mass Event EMS manual
Coordinator: TKK Dipoli Environmental Education, Helskinki University of Technology
LIFE04 ENV/FI/000309
LIFE09 ENV/GR/000302
www.lifeetv.com LIFE06 PREP/UK/000002
www.ecostep-online.de LIFE04 ENV/DE/000052 www.project-destinations.org LIFE06 TCY/INT/000250
SELECTIVE LIST – PROJECTS ON ENVIRONMENTAL CERTIFICATION
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