The Blue Angel is an environmental label in Germany that has been awarded to particularly environmentally friendly products and services since 1978. The owner of the label is the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety. History The Blue Angel is the ecolabel of the German government and was introduced in 1978 by the Federal Minister of the Interior, which was a person of the Free Democratic Party (Germany) (FDP) in these years. This ministry was also responsible for environmental protection at the time, and the responsible ministers in the German federal states. It was established with the aim of highlighting more environmentally friendly and healthy developments and alternatives in areas where standard products have a negative impact on the environment. Suppliers can label their products and services with the environmental label on a voluntary basis and provide interested customers with guidance as a result. The Blue Angel is thus a market-based, voluntary tool of environmental policy. The logo largely corresponds to the logo of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), although with the colours reversed. The outer ring contains the words “BLUE ANGEL” and “THE GERMAN ECOLABEL”. According to the official website, it reflects the aim of the German government to embed the UNEP goals in Germany. In 2018 a modified version of the logo was published. The ecolabel can currently be awarded to around 100 product groups / services across the following sectors: paper products, building products, furnishing, clothing, washing and cleaning agents, cleaning services, (household) chemicals, packaging / disposal, vehicles / mobility, energy / heating, electrical devices (household), information and communication technology, other. The ecolabel is only awarded to non-food products and not to food or beverages. Award process The Blue Angel is a so-called “Type I environmental label” according to DIN EN ISO 14024. This means that the entire life cycle of the product is taken into account and any impacts on the environment and health are fully considered during the development of the criteria (“multi-criteria evaluation”). In addition, the criteria are developed in a transparent process that includes both the suppliers affected as well as interested organisations within civil society and research institutions. Last but not least, the certification process is carried out by an independent body. The Blue Angel is a member of the international network of Type I ecolabels – the Global Ecolabelling Network (GEN) – which currently comprises