98/480/EC: Commission Recommendation of 22 July 1998 concerning good environmental practice for household laundry detergents (notified under document number C(1998) 2163)
Date: 1998-07-22
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: code of conduct, energy consumption, environmental protection, organic chemical, packaging, polishing and scouring preparations

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Official Journal of the European Communities

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COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION

of 22 July 1998

concerning good environmental practice for household laundry detergents

(notified under document number C(1998) 2163)

(98/480/EC)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community, and in particular Article 155, second indent,
thereof,

Whereas detergents and cleaning products are already
subject to certain Community provisions concerning the
in
manufacture, proper handling, usage and labelling,
particular with reference to Council Directive 73/
404/EEC of 22 November 1973 on the approximation of
the laws of the Member States relating to detergents (1), as
last amended by Directive 86/94/EEC (2), and Commis-
sion Recommendation 89/542/EEC of 13 September
1989 for the labelling of detergents and cleaning prod-
ucts (3);

the laws,

Whereas Council Directive 88/379/EEC of 7 June 1988
on the approximation of
regulations and
administrative provisions of the Member States relating to
the classification, packaging and labelling of dangerous
preparations (4), as last amended by Directive 96/65/EC (5),
shall apply to detergents classified as dangerous within
the meaning of Article 3 of
the abovementioned
Directive;

Whereas the actions envisaged in this recommendation
are without prejudice to the requirements set out in Euro-
pean Parliament and Council Directive 94/62/EC of 20
December 1994 on packaging and packaging waste (6);

Whereas
separate Community requirements apply to
cosmetic products, which are not covered by this recom-
mendation;

Whereas the ecological criteria for the award of
the
Community eco-label to laundry detergents established
by Commission Decision 95/365/EC (7) are different from
the present recommendation, so manufacturers should
give due consideration to applying for the European
Community eco-label in addition to complying with this
recommendation;

Whereas the Commission has established guidelines for
the effective use of environmental agreements
in a
communication to the Council and the European Parlia-
ment (8); whereas the Council and the European Parlia-

(1) OJ L 347, 17. 12. 1973, p. 51.
(2) OJ L 80, 25. 3. 1986, p. 51.
(3) OJ L 291, 10. 10. 1989, p. 55.
(4) OJ L 187, 16. 7. 1988, p. 14.
(5) OJ L 265, 18. 10. 1996, p. 15.
(6) OJ L 365, 31. 12. 1994, p. 10.
(7) OJ L 217, 13. 9. 1995, p. 14.
(8) COM(96) 561 final of 27 November 1996.

ment,
in their resolutions of 17 July 1997 and of 7
October 1997 on environmental agreements, have recog-
nised that such agreements may be a valuable instrument
to make optimum use of industry’s own responsibility (9);

Whereas the Commission considers that,
in order to
enhance the effectiveness and to guarantee the transpar-
ency and credibility of this industry commitment recog-
nised by the Commission through a Commission recom-
mendation, all the interested parties are to be consulted
on the recommendation and in particular on its imple-
mentation and the results achieved;

Whereas the reduction of washing temperatures would
decrease energy consumption and thus decrease CO2
emissions;

Whereas reducing the consumption of detergents and
their packaging is likely to lower the general environ-
mental impact related to detergents;

Whereas the reduction of the poorly biodegradable ingre-
dients in detergents will reduce the effects of detergents
on the environment;

Whereas industry elaborated a code of conduct in order to
improve the information available to consumers to ensure
proper usage and in particular the dosing of detergents by
more detailed labelling, educational advertising and other
programmes aimed at increasing consumer awareness, to
save resources and to bring about a direct positive impact
on water quality and on the environment in general;

Whereas there are, within each Member State, national
associations which represent the great majority of the
undertakings in the detergents and cleaning products
industry in that Member State, each of which is a member
of the AISE (Association internationale de la savonnerie,
de la d(cid:130)tergence et des produits d’entretien) and which
have committed themselves to implement this Commis-
sion recommendation;

and cleaning product

Whereas the AISE, which represents over 90 % of the
detergent
in the
Community, has committed itself to ensure compliance
with this
recommendation in cooperation with the
national associations;

industries

(9) OJ C 286, 22. 9. 1997, p. 254 and OJ C 321, 22. 10. 1997,

p. 6.

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Whereas non-AISE members who are selling, marketing
or producing household laundry detergents within the
European Community and the European Economic Area
may also participate in this undertaking;

Whereas the results achieved under this recommendation
should be communicated to the European Parliament, to
the Council and to the public, in line with the Commis-
sion communication on environmental agreements;

Whereas the implementation of this Commission recom-
mendation should be assured on the one hand by the
undertaking to the Commission by the AISE to ensure
compliance with the provisions of this recommendation
and on the other hand by the national associations who
will cooperate with the authorities of the Member States
in order to ensure the implementation of these provisions;

Whereas this recommendation should be implemented as
soon as possible in order to reduce the environmental
impact related to the use of household detergents;

Whereas further efforts by producers and consumers will
be necessary to achieve sustainable development,

HEREBY RECOMMENDS:

Article 5

The content of all poorly biodegradable organic ingredi-
ents, as defined in the Annex should be decreased by
10 % for the product group as defined in Article 1 by the
year 2002 compared with 1996.

Article 6

Without prejudice to Council Directive 84/450/EEC (1)
concerning misleading advertising, consumers should be
provided with information designed to encourage the
correct use of household laundry detergents.

Article 7

In order to monitor the progress of this recommendation,
statistics will be collected in the Member States. The
collected statistics should be reported to the Commission
and respectively to the national authorities. The informa-
tion and the data to be collected as well as the process for
data collection and verification are defined in the Annex.

The national associations of the AISE and the AISE itself
will provide for an outside organisation to collect and
process statistics.

Article 1

Article 8

the purpose of

this recommendation ‘household
For
laundry detergents' means products sold to the general
public which are intended for washing domestic laundry.

For the purpose of the implementation of this recom-
mendation, the national authorities should cooperate with
the national members of the AISE.

Article 2

Article 9

The total amount of energy used per wash cycle for the
product group as defined in Article 1 should be reduced
by 5 % by the year 2002 compared with 1996.

Article 3

The consumption per capita in the European Community
of the product group as defined in Article 1 should be
reduced by 10 % by the year 2002 compared with 1996.

Every two years, until the goals set by the recommenda-
tion are reached, the Commission will hold consultations
with the Member States,
the AISE and Consumer
Committee (2) on the state of implementation of this
recommendation. The Commission will
inform the
Council and the European Parliament accordingly and
make the information publicly available.

Article 4

Done at Brussels, 22 July 1998.

The consumption per capita of the primary and sec-
ondary packaging of the product group as defined in
Article 1 should be reduced by 10 % by the year 2002
compared with 1996.

For the Commission

Martin BANGEMANN

Member of the Commission

(1) OJ L 250, 19. 9. 1984, p. 17, Directive as last amended by
Directive 97/55/EC of
the
Council of 6 October 1997, OJ L 290, 23. 10. 1997, p. 18.

the European Parliament and of

(2) OJ L 162, 13. 7. 1995, p. 37.

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ANNEX

The AISE and its national member associations will collect all necessary data and monitor the
implementation of this recommendation. For this purpose the national member associations of AISE
may cooperate with the national authorities. The reference basis for the implementation of the aims of
this recommendation is the year 1996.

The following data will be collected for each national market:

Product consumption

The companies will provide the total detergent consumption (in tonnes/year) of household laundry
detergents (solid and liquid) for each calendar year. Consumption means the tonnes of detergent sold
on each national market.

Packaging consumption

The companies will provide the total consumption (in tonnes/year) of packaging associated with the
abovementioned detergent consumption for each calendar year. Consumption means the tonnes of
packaging used on each national market.

Poorly biodegradable organic ingredients

The companies will provide the total consumption of poorly biodegradable organic ingredients (1) (in
tonnes/year) associated with the abovementioned detergent consumption (solid and liquid) for each
calendar year. Consumption means the tonnes of poorly biodegradable organics in detergents sold on
each national market.

Energy consumption

The reduction of energy consumption per wash load will be defined on the basis of the change of
temperature distribution of wash cycles. The AISE will set up appropriate and representative habit
studies on a European basis in order to find the temperature profile for each Member State.

The statistics will be collected in Member States to be reported through the AISE to the Commission
every second year, except on energy consumption which will be provided only for 1996 and again in
the year 2002. The first report with the data for the reference basis of 1996 will be presented to the
Commission in September 1998.

The first progress report covering 1997 and 1998 will be presented to the Commission in September
1999. The reports to the Commission will include the data for each Member State and the average data
for the EU.

The compliance with the aims of this recommendation will be judged by the weighted average data for
the EU.

With the first report the AISE will present to the Commission a list of companies implementing the
recommendation in each Member State.

The collection and verification of data will be executed by an independent body with suitable expertise.
Confidentiality of the data of individual companies shall be guaranteed by the independent body.

(1) Poorly biodegradable organic ingredients are those which fail to biodegrade by more than 70 % in SCAS or Zahn
Wellens biodegradability test as defined under C.12. and C.9 of Annex V to Directive 67/548/EEC (OJ 196, 16. 8.
1967, p. 1), as last amended by Directive 92/32/EEC (OJ L 154, 5. 6. 1992).