Table 4. An LCA-based assessment of envir onmental labelling certification criteria (an example based on the case of clothing items)

Three major areas of environmental performance	Raw materials	Production	Transportation·distribution	Use·consumption	Disposal
Circular economy(use of recycled materials, recyclable content requirement, use of wood raw material, extended life cycle, right of repair, replacement parts, upcycling, ease of dismantling)	◎	◎	△	◎	○
Carbon reduction(use of low-carbon renewable materials, lightweighting, low-carbon packaging, use of biomaterials, elimination of packaging/ use of reusable packaging, availability of refills)	○	◎	○	○	◎
Environmental health(restriction of hazardous substances from human contact, restriction of toxic chemical dyes that can lead to water pollution, ease of removing hazardous materials)	△	◎	△	○	△
Other(noise and vibration pollution, etc.)	△	○	△	-	-

◎: criteria needs to be strengthened considerably.
○: criteria needs to be strengthened.
△: criteria needs to be reviewed further to determine whether it should be strengthened.