Cities around the world are increasingly using an expanding body of eco-city indicators and frameworks as a key sustainable development tool. There is also a growing trend of cooperation between countries and cities to apply eco-city indicators flexibly in different contexts.

In 2009, the manufacturer of a water quality monitoring device, hoping to distribute it in Asia, was asked for evidence of an independent, scientific verification of its performance, so that the buyers could compare it with a similar American product.

Radio frequency identification (RFID) tags can be used to ensure that waste electronic and electrical equipment (WEEE) is correctly processed, and that reuse of components and recycling of materials is maximised, according to a European Union funded project with pilot initiatives in the Czech Republic and Spain.