What Is ISO 14024? Ecolabels Explained

Please note: This article was updated in 2026 to reflect the publication of ISO 14024:2026 (Edition 3), which replaced the 2018 edition. This article is for educational purposes only. It does not replace the ISO and EN standards. If you work at a university, you probably already have a licence to view the complete standards. If not, please go to your relevant national provider of standards.

ISO 14024 sits within the ISO 14020 family of environmental statement standards. Where ISO 14020:2022 establishes the umbrella principles and general requirements, ISO 14024 defines how ecolabelling programmes actually work. These are the ecolabels you see on products: EU Ecolabel, Blue Angel, Nordic Swan, and similar certification marks. You may see them referred to as ‘Type I environmental labels’ in older documents, but that terminology has been retired across the ISO 14020 family.

The third edition was published in May 2026, replacing ISO 14024:2018. It was retitled from ‘Type I environmental labelling — Principles and procedures’ to ‘Environmental statements and programmes for products — Ecolabels’, aligning with the rest of the family. The revision is a significant technical update rather than a fundamental rethink: the core principles from the original 1999 version are unchanged, but the standard has been restructured to correspond with ISO 14020:2022, and several requirements have been strengthened.

Ecolabels represent a pass/fail judgement. Products either meet the environmental criteria or they don’t. This differs fundamentally from EPDs (ISO 14025) which present quantified environmental data without making preferability claims. A product does not become ‘ISO 14024 certified’; it earns a specific ecolabel from a specific programme that operates in accordance with ISO 14024.

How Ecolabelling Works

Ecolabelling programmes are run by independent third parties. These ecolabelling bodies establish environmental criteria for specific product categories, verify that products meet those criteria, then license manufacturers to display the ecolabel.

The process operates through defined stages. First, the ecolabelling body selects product categories where environmental improvement is both needed and achievable. Paint, cleaning products, textiles, paper products are typical categories. The choice depends on market size, environmental significance, and whether meaningful criteria can be established.

Second, the body develops environmental criteria for each category. These criteria must cover the product’s entire life cycle, not just one stage. The standard requires life cycle thinking without necessarily demanding full LCA studies. The 2026 edition further consolidated this life-cycle approach, requiring that criteria consider the most significant phases and avoid shifting impacts from one phase to another.

Third, manufacturers apply for the label by demonstrating compliance. The ecolabelling body verifies their claims through documentation review, audits, and testing where appropriate.

Why Third-Party Verification Matters

ISO 14024 requires independent third-party verification. This distinguishes ecolabels from self-declared environmental claims (ISO 14021), which companies make without independent verification.

The verification requirement creates credibility. When a manufacturer claims their product is ‘eco-friendly’, consumers have no way to assess that claim. When an independent body certifies a product meets specific environmental criteria, the claim becomes verifiable.

This verification gap matters commercially. Ecolabels carry weight with procurement managers and environmentally conscious consumers because an independent party has checked the claims. Self-declared claims don’t carry that weight, regardless of their actual accuracy.

The 2026 edition strengthened the requirements around transparency, impartiality and independence of the bodies managing ecolabelling programmes, with better defined roles, responsibilities and decision-making processes.

Stakeholder Consultation: A Core Requirement

ISO 14024 mandates formal consultation with interested parties throughout the process. This means involving industry representatives, environmental groups, consumer organisations, and technical experts when selecting product categories and developing criteria.

The consultation process must be open and transparent. Draft criteria must be published for comment. Adequate time must be given for stakeholders to review and respond. The ecolabelling body must consider and respond to comments received.

This consultation requirement serves two purposes. First, it ensures criteria are technically sound and practically achievable. Industry knows what’s feasible in manufacturing. Environmental groups know what environmental impacts matter most. Technical experts know what testing methods work.

Second, consultation builds acceptance. When multiple stakeholders have participated in criteria development, those criteria gain legitimacy. A label developed behind closed doors lacks the credibility of one developed through open consultation.

Developing Environmental Criteria

The criteria development process in ISO 14024 follows a structured approach. The ecolabelling body begins by conducting a feasibility study to assess whether a product category is suitable for labelling. This study examines market structure, environmental impacts, potential for improvement, and existing legislation.

Product environmental criteria must be based on significant environmental impacts across the life cycle. The standard provides a matrix that maps life cycle stages against environmental indicators: energy use, resource consumption, emissions to air, water, and soil. In the 2026 edition, this matrix was moved to an expanded annex with additional guidance on matching product criteria to conformity assessment methods.

Criteria should be expressed either as impacts on the environment or as measurable product properties that correlate with environmental performance. A criterion might limit volatile organic compound emissions from paint, or require minimum recycled content in paper products.

The criteria must be scientifically sound and verifiable through recognised testing methods. ISO 14024 specifies a preference hierarchy: ISO and IEC standards first, then national and regional standards, then accredited laboratory methods.

Importantly, criteria must enable measurable environmental improvement while remaining achievable for suppliers. Set criteria too loose and the label means nothing. Set them too tight and no products qualify, making the label irrelevant. The balance point sits where leading products meet the criteria but average products don’t.

Review Periods and Continuous Improvement

ISO 14024 requires regular review of criteria. Technical developments change what’s environmentally preferable. Manufacturing processes improve. New materials become available. Environmental priorities shift.

The standard doesn’t specify exact review periods but indicates they should reflect the product category’s characteristics. Electronics might need more frequent review than furniture due to faster technological change.

When criteria are revised, ISO 14024 requires consideration of transition periods. Manufacturers need time to reformulate products or change processes. Licensees need time to sell existing inventory. Revision timing must balance environmental progress against commercial fairness.

The review process itself must follow the same consultation requirements as initial criteria development. Stakeholders must be involved. Comments must be considered. The process must be transparent.

The Verification Process

Verification under ISO 14024 involves several elements. First, the ecolabelling body must establish clear compliance assessment procedures. These procedures define what documentation manufacturers must provide, what testing is required, and what audit processes apply. The 2026 edition added a new annex with specific methods and requirements for conformity assessment.

Second, the body must ensure verifiers are competent. ISO 14024 specifies minimum requirements for verifier competence including knowledge of the product sector, relevant environmental aspects, and applicable standards.

Third, compliance must be monitored throughout the licence period. A product doesn’t simply gain the label once then keep it forever. The ecolabelling body must conduct periodic compliance checks to ensure products continue meeting criteria as manufacturing processes change.

Transparency Requirements

ISO 14024 demands transparency at every stage. The principles used to select product categories must be publicly available. The criteria themselves must be published. The verification procedures must be clear. Information on how to obtain the label must be accessible.

This transparency extends to fees. Ecolabelling programmes typically charge application fees, annual licence fees, or both. These fee structures must be published and applied consistently.

The rationale behind this transparency is straightforward: stakeholders can only participate meaningfully if they have access to relevant information. Manufacturers can only apply if they know the criteria. Consumers can only trust the label if they understand what it represents.

Differentiating Ecolabels from Other Environmental Statements

The 2026 edition added specific guidance on how ecolabels conforming to ISO 14024 can be distinguished from other environmental claims and labels on the market. This is an anti-greenwashing measure: with hundreds of environmental marks in circulation, many of them self-created and self-awarded, it matters that consumers and procurement managers can tell the difference between a label backed by independent third-party verification against published criteria and one that a company designed for its own packaging.

Whilst the standard remains focused on environmental aspects, the 2026 edition also explicitly recognises that ecolabelling programmes can include social and economic criteria to support sustainable development, provided these are consistent and verifiable. This doesn’t change the core environmental focus, but it acknowledges that some programmes are already incorporating broader sustainability considerations.

Ecolabels vs EPDs: Different Tools for Different Purposes

The distinction between ecolabels (ISO 14024) and EPDs (ISO 14025) is fundamental. Ecolabelling programmes make environmental preferability judgements: they establish criteria representing ‘better’ environmental performance, then award labels to products meeting those criteria.

EPDs present quantified environmental data without judging whether that performance is good or bad. An EPD shows a product’s carbon footprint, resource consumption, and other environmental indicators but leaves interpretation to the user. See EPD vs Carbon Footprint vs LCA for a full breakdown of these distinctions.

Both approaches serve important functions. Ecolabels work well for consumer products where buyers want simple guidance. EPDs work better in business-to-business contexts where buyers need detailed data to make informed comparisons.

The verification requirements differ too. Ecolabels require mandatory third-party verification by the ecolabelling body. EPDs require verification of the underlying LCA data and, for consumer-facing EPDs, the 2026 edition of ISO 14025 now requires third-party verification with the verifier named in the declaration.

Why ISO 14024 Matters for LCA Practitioners

ISO 14024 connects to LCA practice in several ways. First, criteria development should be informed by life cycle thinking. The standard requires considering environmental impacts across the product life cycle, though it doesn’t mandate full LCA studies for every product category.

Second, ecolabels and EPDs serve complementary roles. A company might pursue an ecolabel for consumer-facing products whilst producing EPDs for business customers. Understanding both standards helps in choosing the right tool.

Third, ecolabel criteria often influence LCA system boundaries and impact categories. When conducting LCA for a product category with established ecolabel criteria, those criteria indicate which environmental aspects matter most to that sector.

Finally, the stakeholder consultation processes in ISO 14024 mirror good practice in LCA goal and scope definition. Both require engaging relevant parties to ensure technical soundness and practical relevance.

Implementation Challenges

ISO 14024 implementation presents several challenges. Developing scientifically sound criteria that are also commercially achievable requires substantial technical expertise. The ecolabelling body needs deep knowledge of product categories, environmental science, testing methods, and market conditions.

Stakeholder consultation takes time and resources. Managing consultation processes, responding to comments, and achieving reasonable consensus demands skilled facilitation.

Verification creates ongoing costs. Ecolabelling bodies must maintain verifier competence, conduct audits, and monitor compliance. These costs must be recovered through fees whilst keeping the label accessible to smaller manufacturers.

International harmonisation remains incomplete. Different ecolabel programmes have different criteria for the same product categories. This creates challenges for manufacturers selling globally and reduces the comparability that life cycle-based approaches should enable.

Where ISO 14024 Fits in Environmental Assessment

ISO 14024 occupies a specific niche in environmental assessment. It works well for products where clear environmental preferences can be established through criteria, where independent verification adds value, and where pass/fail distinctions make sense.

It works less well where environmental trade-offs are complex and context-dependent. When product A performs better on carbon footprint but worse on water use, a simple ecolabel can’t capture that nuance. EPDs handle such situations better by presenting the data without prejudging the trade-offs.

Ecolabels excel at creating market pull for environmental improvement. When retailers or procurement managers specify ecolabelled products, manufacturers have clear incentive to meet the criteria. This market mechanism can drive widespread adoption of better environmental practices. As anti-greenwashing regulation tightens, ecolabels conforming to ISO 14024, with their independent verification and published criteria, are well positioned to meet the substantiation requirements that self-declared claims will increasingly struggle with.

Understanding ISO 14024 matters for our LCA work because ecolabel criteria often inform the studies we conduct. When clients ask about ecolabel requirements, we need to understand both the standard’s technical requirements and how they relate to LCA methodology. When conducting LCA for product development, knowing what ecolabel criteria exist helps focus the study on commercially relevant environmental aspects.