Brussels, 18/10/2010 (Agence Europe) - The 2010 winners of the 2010 EU Ecolabel Communication Awards - those little flowers surrounded by the 12 stars of the European Union that one sees on products and services with minimal environmental impact throughout their life cycle - were announced during the evening of Monday 18 October by Janez Potoènik, European Environment Commissioner.
This year's award has drawn applications from 13 organisations in 11 countries in the hope that they might be rewarded for their exceptional promotional activity to increase public awareness of the EU Ecolabel. The commissioner takes the view that “EU businesses have a key role to play in changing consumption patterns”, hence these companies should be congratulated for “promoting a label of excellence”.
Nominees are: Adira Hotel, Prague (Czech Republic), Alpheios International (Netherlands), Alvarella Ecoturismo (Spain), Arjowiggins Graphic (France), Bona AB (Sweden), Delhaize (Belgium), Jardim Atlantico (Portugal), Novceram sas (France), Sara Lee Corp - Sanex (Netherlands), Solus (Ireland), Sutter Industries SpA (Italy), UPM-Kymmene Corporation (Finland) and ZX Fami Ltd (Cyprus).
Selection of the winners will be by a panel composed of environment and communication experts and representatives of the European Commission, with the selection being guided by the criteria of quality, creativity and relevance of communication activity, as well as the effective use of the label.
Created in 1992, what was then called the Community ecology label has since been attributed to some 25,000 products and services (cleaning products, appliances, paper products, textiles, home and garden products and lubricants, and tourist accommodation services). Companies that request the label are granted the right to use it if products and services applying for the label comply with very strict criteria established by European legislation for each category of product or service. (A.N./transl.jl)