A European Commission Decision, dated 2007, established the ecological criteria and related assessment and verification requirement for soaps, shampoos and hair-conditioners. Those criteria have been reviewed in the light of technological developments, and the Commission published a new Decision on 9 December 2014.
As a reminder, the EU Ecolabel may be awarded to products which have a reduced environmental impact during their entire life cycle (regulation 66/2010.) Its specific criteria are to be established according to product groups.
The Commission reminds us today that 'Since environmental impacts mainly in terms of eco-toxicity and resource consumption are associated to the chemicals used in rinse-off cosmetic products and to their packaging, it is appropriate to establish the EU Ecolabel criteria for this product group. The criteria should in particular promote products that have reduced impact on aquatic ecosystems, contain limited amount of hazardous substances and minimise waste production by reducing the amount of packaging.'
The criteria established for rinse-off cosmetic products by Decision 2007/506 have been reviewed by Decision 2014/893 and the definition of the product group has been modified so as to include a new sub-product group and to establish new criteria.
The scope of the Decision
The product group ‘Rinse-off cosmetic products’ shall comprise any rinse-off substance or mixture falling under the scope of Cosmetics Regulation 1223/2009 intended to be placed in contact with the epidermis and/or the hair system with a view exclusively or mainly to cleaning them (toilet soaps, shower preparations, …
