Q: So, as a basic overview, what exactly is the water label?

A: It’s a marketing and sales tool to help people identify how much water a product uses if it’s used in accordance with the manufacturer’s instruction. It’s simple, credible and honest. Over time, we’ve added an energy dial in there to show how much energy you’re using on the hot water side. The water label is as close to – without actually emulating – the energy label.

Q: So, why is it so important?

A: If it becomes law that you have to have a mandatory label in the UK, retailers will have to label every product that they have on display in their showrooms, and manufacturers will have to carry a mandatory label on all of their products to ensure that consumers have access to that information. For retailers, that means if they’ve got – for example – 20 bathroom displays on show, and each one’s got a bath, a tap, shower and a WC, they will all be required to have a label on. There’s a lot of subjective calculations going on, but essentially, the government’s quest is to drive water use down to 110L per-person per-day, and the retailer will play a large part in educating consumers on how much water they use.

Q: What’s the history here, and where did your water label first come from?

A: In 2005, I got a major manufacturer in the UK to support the idea that the industry should have a standard label that worked for the whole sector. By 2007, the first technical criteria had been written and the first product labelled on the first of September. Lecico was the first one to register a product. In 2009, the English water label became ‘europeanised’, but then along came Brexit, which was a headache that we had to overcome. However, the industry remained European and therefore the whole of the bathroom industry – where the majority of the products come from – decided that their label was the right tool and that’s where they’ve continued to support it. Now, the UK government has decided that it wants its own seperate mandatory label.

Q: Surely that’s a good thing?

A: To a certain extent, yes. But I’m also a firm believer that the industry should actually be the driver of its own destiny, and work with governments – not against governments. So I was very disappointed with the UK government wanting to waste £27 million of taxpayers money on a labeling scheme that would be identical to the one that the industry is already driving forward. We’ve already got about 160 brands supporting the existing label.

Q: So, with the government planning to basically make their own water label from scratch, do you think its scared the existing label will only benefit the industry or manufacturers?

A: A lot of government departments have limited trust in the industry, but the unified water label has been developed and written as close to eco-design principles as it could possibly be, so it’s got all the relevant aspects in there – it just beggars belief. It won’t favour the manufacturer because within the consultation response report, it states that they want third-party compliance certification. This means manufacturers are going to be facing a £50 million bill on trying to find the capacity to certify their products in test laboratories.

Q: The crux of the issue is nudging the consumer to think differently about their water use, and this is where the influence of the retailer or installer comes in. Are we likely to see bans on products that don’t meet water label standards to help change that behaviour?

A: Yes, to an extent. The retailer or the installer will influence the purchasing of the product, but for me, it’s about changing behaviour. We could see bans coming in, and it says that in the report. By 2035, they’re looking at minimum standards but these are the things that if you’ve given control or influencing factors to government then they’ll just run roughshod over you.

Q: What is the timeline looking like for the new label coming into effect? Should showrooms be prepared to start labelling their products soon?

A: The Government has said it would like to introduce a mandatory water label by 2025. Well, come on, let’s get real. We’ve got stakeholder meetings to work out the technical criteria, the look of the label, and how it’s going to go forward and then we’ve got an election. Is the incoming government going to be supportive of wasting £27 million? And that’s before a mandatory label by Defra is implemented. And there’s got to be a transition period – and normally transition periods are between 18 months and 2 years – so that’s taking you up to 2027 anyway, and Defra is already renowned for being slow.

Q: Given that the government has basically disregarded your existing label, how willing are you to work with the government on the new label going forwards?

A: We’ve got to work on what’s best for the manufacturers. The government needs to wake up smell the coffee and use what’s already been developed. In Rishi Sunak’s closing speech at the conservative party conference, he said he wanted to work with small businesses on environment, yet here is Defra about to close one of the small businesses that has worked endlessly and tirelessly to develop a labelling scheme that is recognised on the global platform. Having the support of 160 brands and 17,000 products behind us, we know we haven’t got it wrong.

You can listen to the full discussion with Orgill on episode three of season ten of The kbbreview Podcast. Go to kbbreview.com/podcast to see all the episodes.