SEPAWA Congress – The leading industry event for detergents and cleaning agents 

The SEPAWA Congress was once again among the most important European events for the detergents, cosmetics and perfumery industry this year. Experts from the German Environment Agency and RAL were on hand to answer attendees’ questions and provide information about the certification of washing-up liquid, laundry detergents and cleaning agents. A talk by Janine Braumann from the German Environment Agency on the impact of European legislation on environmental labels met with keen interest.

What is the GENICES audit (GEN Internationally Criteria and Evaluation Standard)?

The GENICES audit is a detailed assessment that ensures that ecolabels like the Blue Angel meet the requirements of DIN EN ISO 14024 – the international standard for environmental declarations and programmes for products – environmental labelling. This standard makes certain that environmental labels are based on objective, comprehensible and reliable criteria and are characterised by other key features:

The ceremony for the German Environmental Award in Chemnitz on 26 October 2025 was the first event to receive the ecolabel “Blue Angel for events”. With its comprehensive sustainability concept, the DBU is setting new standards for environmentally friendly events in Germany. 

The Blue Angel for events recognises events that uphold high environmental standards. The criteria assessed include the use of climate-friendly mobility, a resource-efficient energy supply, sustainable catering and waste avoidance.

Looking to tidy up your desk or in need of some rest and ready to lay your head on an environmentally friendly pillow? The annual online Advent calendar offers an inspiring overview of the wide variety offered by several tens of thousands of products certified with the Blue Angel. Attractive products bearing the German Federal Government’s ecolabel are once again hidden behind the 24 virtual doors.

The aim of this investigation, captured on camera for the Blue Angel social media accounts, was to get as many different non-food products bearing the government ecolabel as possible into the shopping basket in the shortest possible time.

German customs authorities will be deploying the ‘Fehmarn’ along the Baltic Sea coast in the future. The 55-metre-long and 10-metre-wide ship is not only equipped with state-of-the-art technology but is also a pioneer in environmental friendliness, having been awarded the Blue Angel for environmentally friendly ship design.

The range of topics covered by the festival organisers was as varied as the park landscape in northern Potsdam: “bite-sized” tips on zero-waste cooking and talks on balcony power stations alternated with information on medicinal herbs in winter, science slams and interactive theatre. The programme highlights were planned with the academic support of the University of Potsdam and, despite being held in late September, were presented in almost summer temperatures.

The online advent calendar from the Blue Angel ecolabel presents a diverse range of alternative environmentally friendly products to the around 250,000 participants. It also inspires people to make more environmentally conscious choices when buying presents. Every door reveals a different product certified with the Blue Angel ecolabel. Your product could be one of them this year!