ISO 14024 is the international standard that sets the rules an ecolabel scheme has to follow before it can award its label to a product. Its 2026 edition covers how a scheme picks product categories, sets the criteria a product has to beat, and checks that a product meets them.
It is written for the organisations that run ecolabels, not the companies that apply for one.
From 27 September 2026, EU law bans displaying a sustainability label that is not based on a certification scheme or established by a public authority. ISO 14024 decides which side of that line a label falls on.
The short version of ISO 14024
Here are the facts worth having before the detail.
| Detail | ISO 14024 |
|---|---|
| Full title | Environmental statements and programmes for products, Ecolabels |
| Current edition | 2026, the third edition, published May 2026 |
| Former title | Environmental labels and declarations, Type I environmental labelling, Principles and procedures |
| Status | Published, replacing ISO 14024:2018 |
| Type | Requirements for the body that runs the label, not a certificate a producer holds |
| Published by | ISO/TC 207 (Environmental management), subcommittee SC 3 (Environmental labelling), with CEN |
| Length | 26 pages, including four informative annexes |
| Family | The ISO 14020 series, under the umbrella standard ISO 14020 |
An ecolabel in plain terms
An ecolabel is a mark that an independent organisation awards to a product after checking it against published criteria. The EU Ecolabel, the Nordic Swan and Blue Angel are the best known examples in Europe.
Four pieces do the work, and the rest of this page keeps coming back to them.
- The programme. The scheme itself, run by an operator that is independent of the companies applying.
- The product category. A group of products with the same function, such as laundry detergents or indoor paints. Criteria are always written for one category at a time.
- The product criteria. The environmental requirements a product has to meet, plus function requirements so that a labelled product still does its job properly.
- The licence. The document that gives one company the right to put the label on one product, for a fixed period.
The point of the criteria is to separate the better products from the ordinary ones. The 2018 edition put it plainly, saying criteria have to differentiate environmentally preferable products from others in the same category, based on a measurable difference in environmental impact.
An ecolabel that every product in its category could earn would tell a buyer nothing.
What changed in the 2026 edition
The third edition landed in May 2026 and replaced the 2018 edition. The most visible change is the name.
The standard used to be called Environmental labels and declarations, Type I environmental labelling. It is now called Environmental statements and programmes for products, Ecolabels, and the phrase "Type I" has left the title, the scope and the contents entirely.
That matters if you are searching for this. The old shorthand of Type I, Type II and Type III is being retired across the whole family, so a document that says "Type I" is describing the 2018 edition or earlier.
What moved out
Material shared with the other standards in the family was taken out of ISO 14024 and now lives in the umbrella standard, ISO 14020, in its 2022 edition. The document was then reorganised so it lines up with the structure of ISO 14020, and a figure was added showing how the family fits together.
What was added
Four informative annexes now sit at the back. Annex A explains how an ecolabel that follows the standard can be told apart from other environmental claims that do not, and Annex B took over the criteria selection table and expanded it.
Annexes C and D are the practical ones. They give worked examples of product criteria and set out the testing, inspection and audit methods needed to show that a label is truthful.
One piece of old vocabulary survives, and it survives where it counts. EU law still refers to "EN ISO 14024 type I" schemes, because the legislation was written against the earlier editions.
Inside an ecolabelling programme
Most of the 2026 edition is a list of what a scheme has to have in place before it awards anything. Reading it as a checklist is the fastest way to understand what separates a real ecolabel from a logo somebody designed.
- Rules that keep conflicts of interest out, covering how the programme is set up, who operates it and how it runs day to day.
- A consultation process that brings interested parties into decisions rather than leaving criteria to the scheme owner alone.
- A documented way of choosing product categories, including a feasibility study before a new category is opened.
- Environmental criteria for each category, based on the product's life cycle. The 2018 edition named the stages to consider as extraction of resources, manufacturing, distribution, use and disposal, and required any narrower approach to be justified.
- Function criteria, so the labelled product still performs. A detergent that fails to clean is not environmentally preferable, it is just unused.
- Quantification methods and data quality rules, including a ranked hierarchy of how a criterion may be measured. In the 2018 edition that ranking ran from ISO and IEC standards at the top, through other international, regional and national standards, down to the manufacturer's own evidence at the bottom.
- Conformity assessment, setting out how a product is actually checked and certified.
- A validity period and a review cycle, so criteria are revisited as technology and the market move.
Read together, those requirements are the reason an ecolabel means something. Someone independent wrote the bar, published it, and has a documented way of checking that a product clears it.
How a product gets the label
For a producer, the standard describes a sequence rather than a one-off test. The 2026 edition sets it out in the order below.
- Apply. The company applies to the programme and the two sides agree the terms of certification.
- Get assessed. The product is checked against the criteria for its category, using the determination methods the programme has specified.
- Have the results reviewed. Someone at the programme reviews what the assessment found.
- Receive a decision, then a licence. If the product clears the criteria, the programme grants a licence authorising the label on that product.
- Stay under surveillance. The programme keeps monitoring, and a licence can be suspended or withdrawn if the product stops meeting the criteria.
The last step is the one companies underestimate. A licence is granted for a defined period against a specific version of the criteria, and the criteria get tightened on review. Keeping a label is a repeat commitment, not a one-time achievement.
Who needs ISO 14024
Three groups use this standard, and they use it very differently.
Ecolabel operators are the primary audience. If you run a scheme, the standard is your rulebook, and conformity with it is what national and EU bodies look for when deciding whether to recognise you.
Producers applying for a label read it to know what they are signing up to, which is a category-specific set of criteria, an independent assessment, and surveillance that continues after the label is granted.
Buyers, procurement teams and retailers use it as a test of credibility. When a supplier presents a green logo, the useful question is whether it comes from a programme built the way ISO 14024 describes, or whether the supplier made it themselves.
Why ISO 14024 matters under EU consumer law
This is where an international standard turns into something with teeth. Directive (EU) 2024/825, the EU's new rules on how products are marketed to consumers, has to be applied by member states from 27 September 2026.
It adds two prohibitions that bear directly on labels, and the first is blunt. Displaying a sustainability label that is not based on a certification scheme, or not established by public authorities, becomes a banned commercial practice outright.
There is no case-by-case test of whether anyone was actually misled.
The directive then defines what a certification scheme has to be, and the definition reads like a summary of ISO 14024.
| What Directive (EU) 2024/825 requires of a certification scheme | What ISO 14024 already requires of an ecolabelling programme |
|---|---|
| Open to all traders on transparent, fair and non-discriminatory terms | Criteria are published, and any product meeting them is eligible for the label |
| Requirements developed by the scheme owner in consultation with experts and stakeholders | A formal consultation process with interested parties |
| Procedures for non-compliance, including withdrawing or suspending the label | Surveillance, with licences that can be suspended or withdrawn |
| Monitoring by an objective procedure, carried out by an independent third party | Conformity assessment by a body independent of the companies applying |
The second prohibition matters even more for anyone writing marketing copy. Making a generic environmental claim becomes banned unless the trader can demonstrate "recognised excellent environmental performance".
The directive then defines that term by naming three routes. One is compliance with the EU Ecolabel Regulation. Another is holding a label from a national or regional EN ISO 14024 scheme officially recognised in the member states. The third is top performance under other EU law.
So an officially recognised ecolabel is not just marketing. From 27 September 2026 it is one of the specific defences the law itself lists for saying something as broad as "environmentally friendly" on a product.
The EU Ecolabel Regulation makes the same connection from the other direction. Regulation (EC) No 66/2010 refers to EN ISO 14024 type I schemes throughout, when setting criteria and when recognising national schemes.
Where ecolabels sit next to packaging rules
For packaging specifically, the useful thing to understand is that ISO 14024 does not govern the label the law makes you print.
Under the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), packaging has to carry harmonised labelling covering material composition and separate collection, in a format the European Commission sets. That marking is compulsory.
Directive (EU) 2024/825 defines a sustainability label as a voluntary mark, and expressly excludes any mandatory label required under EU or national law. So a PPWR marking is not an ecolabel, and ISO 14024 has nothing to say about it.
A single pack can therefore end up carrying two very different marks. One is a legal requirement about how to sort the packaging. The other is a voluntary award saying the product beat a published environmental bar.
What an ecolabel will not do for you
An ecolabel is not an extended producer responsibility (EPR) route. Holding one does not register you, does not report your tonnages, and does not change what you owe your scheme.
The overlap is in the evidence rather than the obligation. Ecolabel criteria increasingly lean on recyclability and recycled content, which is the same packaging data a producer is already assembling for EPR reporting.
ISO 14024 and the standards around it
ISO 14024 is one of a family, and almost all the confusion around it comes from mixing up its siblings. The three that get confused were all re-issued in 2026, and all three dropped their Type numbering at the same time.
The difference that matters is who stands behind the claim. Under ISO 14021 a company makes its own claim and has to be able to back it up. Under ISO 14024 an outside body decides, and can take the label away.
Under ISO 14025 nobody says the product is good or bad. The declaration reports life cycle assessment results so a reader can judge for themselves.
Above all three sits ISO 14020, in its 2022 edition, holding the shared terms and general requirements. ISO 14024 requires you to apply ISO 14020 as well, so the two are read together.
The family also includes ISO 14026 on footprint communications, plus technical specifications on product category rules and on mutual recognition between programmes. ISO describes the whole set as documents aimed at fighting greenwashing in the marketplace.
Frequently asked questions about ISO 14024
Short answers to what people most often ask about this standard.
What is ISO 14024?
ISO 14024 is the international standard, currently in its 2026 edition, that sets out how an ecolabelling programme must be run. It covers choosing product categories, setting environmental criteria, and assessing and certifying products before they may carry the label.
Can a company get ISO 14024 certified?
No. A producer applies to an ecolabel programme and receives a licence to use that programme's label on a specific product. The programme is what conforms to ISO 14024, so there is no ISO 14024 certificate to hang on your own wall.
What edition of ISO 14024 is current?
The 2026 edition, published in May 2026 as the third edition. It cancels and replaces ISO 14024:2018, which replaced the original 1999 edition. Anything citing the 2018 edition is now out of date.
Is ISO 14024 the same as Type I environmental labelling?
Yes, it is the same subject under a new name. The 2018 edition was titled Type I environmental labelling, and the 2026 edition renamed it to ecolabels. EU legislation still uses the older "EN ISO 14024 type I" wording.
Which ecolabels follow ISO 14024?
The EU Ecolabel, the Nordic Swan Ecolabel and Blue Angel are the best known European examples. EU law refers to officially recognised national and regional EN ISO 14024 schemes, which is how a scheme gains formal standing in a member state.
Does an ecolabel help with the EU rules on green claims?
Yes, and specifically so. From 27 September 2026 a generic environmental claim needs evidence of recognised excellent environmental performance, and holding an officially recognised EN ISO 14024 ecolabel is one of the routes the directive names for demonstrating it.
Does ISO 14024 apply to PPWR packaging labels?
No. PPWR labelling is mandatory, and EU law defines a sustainability label as voluntary, excluding anything required by legislation. The PPWR marking tells people how to sort the packaging, which is a different job from an ecolabel.
Is ISO 14024 mandatory?
The standard itself is voluntary, and so are ecolabels. It becomes hard to avoid in practice, because EU law now judges labels against criteria that match it, and public procurement frequently asks for an ecolabel that meets this bar.
