Editing Environmentally friendly (section)

== Regional variants ==

=== Europe ===
Products located in members of the [[European Union]] can use the EU [[Ecolabel]] pending the EU's approval.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ec.europa.eu/environment/ecolabel/index_en.htm|title=Welcome to the European Union Eco-label Homepage|work=EUROPA|access-date=10 July 2007}}</ref> [[Eco-Management and Audit Scheme|EMAS]] is another EU label<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ec.europa.eu/environment/emas/index_en.htm|title=EMAS|work=EUROPA|access-date=10 July 2007}}</ref><ref name="Green Business">{{cite web | title=Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) | website=Green Business | url=https://green-business.ec.europa.eu/eco-management-and-audit-scheme-emas_en | access-date=2023-05-15}}</ref> that signifies whether an organization management is green as opposed to the product.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ec.europa.eu/environment/ecolabel/pdf/meetings/draftmin0905.pdf |title=Minutes |work=EUEB Coordination and Cooperation Management Group |access-date=10 July 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070212115647/http://ec.europa.eu/environment/ecolabel/pdf/meetings/draftmin0905.pdf |archive-date=12 February 2007 }}</ref> [[Germany]] also uses the [[Blue Angel (certification)|Blue Angel]], based on Germany's standard.<ref name="Type 1" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Freimann |first1=Jurgen |last2=Schwedes |first2=Roswitha |date=2000 |title=EMAS experiences in German companies: a survey on empirical studies |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/1099-0925(200009)7:3<99::aid-ema135>3.0.co;2-x |journal=Eco-Management and Auditing |volume=7 |issue=3 |pages=99–105 |doi=10.1002/1099-0925(200009)7:3<99::aid-ema135>3.0.co;2-x |issn=0968-9427|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

In Europe, there are many different ways that companies are using environmentally friendly processes, eco-friendly labels, and overall changing guidelines to ensure that there is less harm being done to the environment and ecosystems while their products are being made. In Europe, for example, many companies are already using EMAS{{Citation needed|date=January 2023}} labels to show that their products are friendly.<ref>{{Cite web |title=EUROPA - Environment - Ecolabel - FAQ |url=https://ec.europa.eu/environment/archives/ecolabel/tools/faq_en.htm |access-date=2023-02-22 |website=ec.europa.eu}}</ref>

==== Companies ====

Many companies in Europe make putting eco-labels on their products a top-priority since it can result to an increase in sales when there are eco-labels on these products. In Europe specifically, a study was conducted that shows a connection between eco-labels and the purchasing of fish: "Our results show a significant connection between the desire for eco-labeling and seafood features, especially the freshness of the fish, the geographical origin of the fish and the wild ''vs'' farmed origin of the fish".<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Brécard |first1=Dorothée |last2=Hlaimi |first2=Boubaker |last3=Lucas |first3=Sterenn |last4=Perraudeau |first4=Yves |last5=Salladarré |first5=Frédéric |date=2009-11-15 |title=Determinants of demand for green products: An application to eco-label demand for fish in Europe |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921800909003061 |journal=Ecological Economics |series=The DPSIR framework for Biodiversity Assessment |language=en |volume=69 |issue=1 |pages=115–125 |doi=10.1016/j.ecolecon.2009.07.017 |bibcode=2009EcoEc..69..115B |issn=0921-8009|url-access=subscription }}</ref> This article shows that eco-labels are not only reflecting a positive impact on the environment when it comes to creating and preserving products, but also increase sales.  However, not all European countries agree on whether certain products, especially fish, should have eco-labels. In the same article, it is remarked: "Surprisingly, the country effect on the probability of accepting a fish eco-label is tricky to interpret. The countries with the highest level of eco-labeling acceptability are Belgium and France".<ref name="Miras Rodríguez 2015">{{Cite journal |last1=Miras Rodríguez |first1=María del Mar |last2=Escobar Pérez |first2=Bernabé |last3=Carrasco Gallego |first3=Amalia |date=2015 |title=Are companies less environmentally-friendly due to the crisis? Evidence from Europe |hdl=11441/85190 |url=https://idus.us.es/handle/11441/85190 |issn=2182-8466}}</ref> According to the same analysis and statistics, France and Belgium are most likely of accepting these eco-labels.

=== North America ===
In the [[United States]], [[environmental marketing]] claims require caution. Ambiguous titles such as ''environmentally friendly'' can be confusing without a specific definition; some regulators are providing guidance.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/grnrule/guides980427.htm  |title=Environmental Claims |access-date=17 November 2008 |publisher= Federal Trade Commission|date=17 November 2008 }}</ref> The [[United States Environmental Protection Agency]] has deemed some ecolabels misleading in determining whether a product is truly "green".<ref name=EPAICOU>{{cite web |url=http://www.greenerchoices.org/eco-labels/eco-home.cfm?redirect=1 |title=Labels -environmentally friendly |access-date=9 July 2007 |work=ecolabels |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071011140125/http://www.greenerchoices.org/eco-labels/eco-home.cfm?redirect=1 |archive-date=11 October 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In [[Canada]], one label is that of the [[Environmental Choice Program]].<ref name="Type 1">{{cite web |url=http://www.ricoh.com/environment/label/type1/index.html#hun_eco |title=Environmental Labels Type I|access-date=10 July 2007 |work=Ricoh}}</ref> Created in 1988,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.environmentalchoice.com/English/ECP%20Footer/About%20the%20Program|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060527124648/http://www.environmentalchoice.com/English/ECP%20Footer/About%20the%20Program|url-status=dead|archive-date=27 May 2006|work=EcoLogo|title=About the Program|access-date=10 July 2007 }}</ref> only products approved by the program are allowed to display the label.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ns.ec.gc.ca/g7/eco-can.html |title= Environmental Choice (Canada)|access-date=10 July 2007  |work= Environment Canada |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071125105653/http://www.ns.ec.gc.ca/g7/eco-can.html <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = 25 November 2007}}</ref>

Overall, Mexico was one of the first countries in the world to pass a specific law on [[climate change]]. The law set an obligatory target of reducing national greenhouse-gas emissions by 30% by 2020. The country also has a National Climate Change Strategy, which is intended to guide policymaking over the next 40 years.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Stiftung|first=Bertelsmann|title=SGI 2017 {{!}} Mexico {{!}} Environmental Policies|url=https://www.sgi-network.org/2017/Mexico/Environmental_Policies|access-date=19 February 2021|website=www.sgi-network.org|language=en}}</ref>

=== Oceania ===
The Energy Rating Label is a Type III label<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.energyrating.gov.au/man1.html |work=Energy Rating Label |title=Overview of Regulatory Requirements - Labelling and MEPS |access-date=10 July 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070701234814/http://www.energyrating.gov.au/man1.html |archive-date=1 July 2007 }}</ref><ref name="Type III">{{cite journal |author1=Arnaud Bizard |author2=Brett Lee |author3=Karen Puterrman |title=AWARE and Environmental Labeling Programs: One Step Closer to a Sustainable Economy |url= http://www.cmu.edu/me/ddl/AWARE/AWARE-Labeling-Report-ME589-2004.pdf|id=ME 589 |access-date=10 July 2007 }}</ref> that provides information on "energy service per unit of energy consumption".<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.energyrating.gov.au/star.html |work=Energy Rating Label |title=Overview of how are star ratings calculated? |access-date=10 July 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070713095412/http://www.energyrating.gov.au/star.html |archive-date=13 July 2007 }}</ref> It was first created in 1986, but negotiations led to a redesign in 2000.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.energyrating.gov.au/con3.html |work=Energy Rating Label |title=The Energy Label |access-date=10 July 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070713103618/http://www.energyrating.gov.au/con3.html |archive-date=13 July 2007 }}</ref>

Oceania generates the second most e-waste, 16.1&nbsp;kg, while having the third lowest recycling rate of 8.8%.<ref>{{cite journal | doi=10.3390/met11081313 | doi-access=free | title=E-Waste Recycling and Resource Recovery: A Review on Technologies, Barriers and Enablers with a Focus on Oceania | journal=Metals | date=August 2021 | volume=11 | issue=8 | page=1313 | last1=Van Yken | first1=Jonovan | last2=Boxall | first2=Naomi J. | last3=Cheng | first3=Ka Yu | last4=Nikoloski | first4=Aleksandar N. | last5=Moheimani | first5=Navid R. | last6=Kaksonen | first6=Anna H. }}</ref> Out of Oceania, only Australia has a policy in policy to manage e-waste, that being the Policy Stewardship Act published in 2011 that aimed to manage the impact of products, mainly those in reference to the disposal of products and their waste.<ref>{{cite web|title=Review of the Product Stewardship Act 2011|url=https://www.dcceew.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/product-stewardship-act-review.pdf}}</ref> Under the Act the National Television and Computer Recycling Scheme (NTCRS) was created, which forced manufactures and importers of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) importing 5000 or more products or 15000 or more peripherals be liable and required to pay the NTCRS for retrieving and recycling materials from electronic products.

New Zealand does not have any law that directly manages their e-waste, instead they have voluntary product stewardship schemes such as supplier trade back and trade-in schemes and voluntary recycling drop-off points. Though this has helped it costs the provider money with labor taking up 90% of the cost of recycling. In addition, e-waste is currently not considered a priority product, which would encourage the enforcement of product stewardship. In [[Pacific Island Regions]] (PIR), e-waste management is a hard task since they lack the adequate amount of land to properly dispose of it even though they produce one of the lowest amounts of e-waste in the world due to their income and population. Due to this there are large stockpiles of waste unable to be recycled safely.

Currently, The Secretariat of the [[Pacific Regional Environment Programme]] (SPREP), an organization in charge of managing the natural resources and environment of the Pacific region, is in charge of region coordination and managing the e-waste of the Oceania region.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.sprep.org/about-us | title=About Us &#124; Pacific Environment }}</ref> SPREP uses Cleaner Pacific 2025 as a framework to guide the various governments in the region.<ref>{{cite web|title=Cleaner Pacific 2025. Pacific Regional Waste and Pollution Management Strategy
|url=https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/commitments/1326_7636_commitment_cleaner-pacific-strategy-2025.pdf|website=un.org
|access-date=26 September 2023}}</ref> They also work with PacWaste (Pacific Hazardous Waste) to identify and resolve the different issues with waste management of the islands, which largely stem from the lack of government enforcement and knowledge on the matter.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.sprep.org/what-pacwaste | title=What is Pacwaste? &#124; Pacific Environment }}</ref> They have currently proposed a mandatory product stewardship policy be put in place along with an advance recycling fee which would incentivize local and industrial recycling. They are also in the mindset that the islands should collaborate and share resources and experience to assist in the endeavor.

With the help from the NTCRS, though the situation has improved they have been vocal about the responsibilities of stakeholders in the situation and how they need to be more clearly defined. In addition to there being a differences in state and federal regulations, with only Southern Australia, Australian Capital Territory, and Victoria having banned e-waste landfill, it would be possible to make this apply the rest of the region if a federal decision was made. They have also advocated for reasonable access to collection points for waste, with there being only one collection point within a 100&nbsp;km radius in some cases. It has been shown that the reason some residents do not recycle is because of their distance from a collection point. In addition, there have been few campaigns to recycle, with the company, Mobile Muster, a voluntary collection program managed by the Australian Mobile Telecommunication Association, aimed to collect phones before they went to a landfill and has been doing so since 1999. Upon further study, it was found that only 46% of the public was award of the program, which later increased to 74% in 2018, but this was after an investment of $45 million from the Australian Mobile Telecommunication Association.

=== Asia ===
"Economic growth in Asia has increased in the past three decades and has heightened energy demand, resulting in rising greenhouse gas emissions and severe air pollution. To tackle these issues, [[fuel switching]] and the deployment of [[renewables]] are essential."<ref name="Arimura Sugino 2020 pp. 44–61">{{cite journal | last1=Arimura | first1=Toshi H. | last2=Sugino | first2=Makoto | title=Energy-Related Environmental Policy and Its Impacts on Energy Use in Asia | journal=Asian Economic Policy Review | publisher=Wiley | volume=16 | issue=1 | date=2020-08-07 | issn=1832-8105 | doi=10.1111/aepr.12319 | pages=44–61| s2cid=225416259 | doi-access=free }}</ref> However, as countries continue to advance, it leads to more pollution as a result of increased energy consumption. In recent years, the biggest concern for Asia is its [[air pollution]] issues. Major Chinese cities such as Beijing have received the worst air quality rankings (Li ''et al''., 2017). Seoul, the capital of South Korea, also suffers from air pollution (Kim ''et al''., 2017). Currently, Indian cities such as Mumbai and Delhi are overtaking Chinese cities in the ranking of worst air quality. In 2019, 21 of the world's 30 cities with the worst air quality were in India."

The environmentally friendly trends are marketed with a different color association, using the color blue for clean air and clean water, as opposed to green in western cultures. Japanese- and Korean-built hybrid vehicles use the color blue instead of green all throughout the vehicle, and use the word "blue" indiscriminately.<ref>{{Cite web|title=S.Korea unveils 'recharging road' for eco-friendly buses|url=https://phys.org/news/2010-03-skorea-unveils-recharging-road-eco-friendly.html|access-date=28 May 2021|website=phys.org|language=en}}</ref>
<!--==== Central Asia ====
In Central Asia there are multiple problems when it comes to the environment including, "...the [[loss of biodiversity]] and the complexity of the network of protected natural areas; insufficient levels of [[municipal solid waste]] processing; energy efficiency problems, in particular, the deterioration of the energy production and supply system; the imbalance between [[hydropower]], [[irrigated agriculture]] and the environment; and problems of the [[Aral Sea]]."<ref name="Pobedinsky Yerezhepkyzy Shestak 2020 pp. 39–48">{{cite journal | last=Pobedinsky | first=Vyacheslav | last2=Yerezhepkyzy | first2=Roza | last3=Shestak | first3=Viktor | title=Improving Environmental Legislation in Central Asia: Current Trends and Features of Cooperation with the European Union | journal=European Energy and Environmental Law Review | publisher=Kluwer Law International BV | volume=29 | issue=2 | date=2020-05-01 | issn=0966-1646 | doi=10.54648/eelr2020005 | pages=39–48}}</ref> -->

==== China ====
According to Shen, Li, Wang, and Liao, the [[emission trading]] system that China had used for its environmentally friendly journey was implemented in certain districts and was successful in comparison to those which were used in test districts that were approved by the government.<ref name="Ge Yang Chen Li 2023 p=3014">{{cite journal | last1=Ge | first1=Wenjun | last2=Yang | first2=Derong | last3=Chen | first3=Weineng | last4=Li | first4=Sheng | title=Can Setting Up a Carbon Trading Mechanism Improve Urban Eco-Efficiency? Evidence from China | journal=Sustainability | publisher=MDPI AG | volume=15 | issue=4 | date=2023-02-07 | issn=2071-1050 | doi=10.3390/su15043014 | page=3014 | doi-access=free | bibcode=2023Sust...15.3014G }}</ref> This shows how China tried to effectively introduce new innovative systems to impact the environment. China implemented multiple ways to combat environmental problems even if they didn't succeed at first. It led to them implementing a more successful process which benefited the environment. Although China needs to implement policies like, "The “fee-to-tax” process should be accelerated, however, and the design and implementation of the environmental tax system should be improved. This would form a positive incentive mechanism in which a low level of pollution correlates with a low level of tax." By implementing policies like these companies have a higher incentive to not over pollute the environment and instead focus on creating an eco-friendlier environment for their workplaces. In doing so, it will lead to less pollution being emitted while there also being a cleaner environment. Companies would prefer to have lower taxes to lessen the costs they have to deal with, so it encourages them to avoid polluting the environment as much as possible.

=== International ===
[[Energy Star]] is a program with a primary goal of increasing [[Efficient energy use|energy efficiency]] and indirectly decreasing [[greenhouse gas emissions]].<ref>{{cite web|work=Energy Star|title=About Energy Star|url=http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=about.ab_index|access-date=10 July 2007}}</ref> Energy Star has different sections for different nations or areas, including the United States,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.energystar.gov/|title=United States Energy Star Home Page|work=Energy Star|access-date=10 July 2007}}</ref> the European Union<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.eu-energystar.org/|title=EU Energy Star Home Page|work=Energy Star|access-date=10 July 2007}}</ref> and Australia.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.energystar.gov.au/|title=Australia Energy Star Home Page|work=Energy Star|access-date=10 July 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070703110036/http://www.energystar.gov.au/|archive-date=3 July 2007}}</ref> The program, which was founded in the United States, also exists in Canada, Japan, New Zealand, and Taiwan.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=partners.intl_implementation|title=Who's Working With ENERGY STAR? International Partners|work=Energy Star|access-date=3 February 2009}}</ref> Additionally, the United Nations [[Sustainable Development Goal 17]] has a target to promote the development, transfer, dissemination, and diffusion of environmentally friendly technologies to developing countries as part of the [[Sustainable Development Goals|2030 Agenda]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Goal 17 {{!}} Department of Economic and Social Affairs|url=https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal17|access-date=26 September 2020|website=sdgs.un.org}}</ref>