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Cleanlink News 11/11/2009

New GS Program Validates Green Claims


Consumer product manufacturers will now be able to prove their sustainability claims to customers and stockholders with a new certification program that rewards the highest levels of environmental performance and leadership.

Green Seal is launching a pilot Company Certification Program that provides the first and only holistic assessment of a company’s product line and its business operations. The new program builds on Green Seal’s development of 30 environmental standards and certification of over 3,500 “green” products and services.

This pilot program will certify companies as a whole based on their commitment to environmentally-sound business practices and sustainable products. Recognition of environmental leadership – at Gold, Silver and Bronze levels – will be based on corporate-wide practices and environmental impacts, third-party environmental certification of the company’s products, and life-cycle assessment of the company’s key product lines.

Green Seal will factor in greenhouse gas emissions, water conservation, biodiversity impact and labor relations, among other requirements.

“Today’s green-savvy consumers are increasingly wary of corporate greenwashing and are looking for proof that companies and their products are as green as they say they are,” said Arthur Weissman, Ph.D., President and CEO of Green Seal. “Our pilot Company Certification Program makes green corporate claims credible and provides real marketing power as manufacturers brand themselves in a sustainability-minded marketplace.”

The pilot Company Certification Program represents a significant leap forward in green product certification programs by assessing entire companies rather than assessing one product at a time.

Certification to the Green Seal standard will be done by teams of independent experts during on-site inspections and life-cycle assessments of the company’s supply chain and major products. Social and environmental impact studies will also be considered. Once completed, companies are given a license to use the Green Seal which, in addition to certifying their commitment to the environment for consumers, also provides greenwashing insurance for the business.

“Knowing the increasing importance of this type of certification for businesses and consumers, we undertook a rigorous process to develop a pilot standard that will ensure companies are held to the highest environmental standard,” said Mark Petruzzi, Green Seal's Vice President of certification and strategic relations.


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