1. Revision of EU Ecolabel criteria for Furniture
European Union Ecolabelling Board (EUEB) meeting, Brussels, June 2014
Shane Donatello (JRC-IPTS)

2. Contents: Criteria proposals at 2nd AHWG.
Feedback from stakeholders (during and after meeting).

3. Ecolabel scope and definition
“Furniture” definition at 2nd AHWG:
"The product group “furniture” shall comprise free-standing or built-in units, which are used for storing, hanging, lying, sitting, eating or working purposes both in domestic or business premises and including both indoor and outdoor furniture. Business purposes shall include all kinds of furniture whose primary function is to be used as furniture, for instance furniture for offices, schools, restaurants, hotels, libraries, theatres, cinemas, etc.
Products whose primary function is not to be used as `furniture´, for example: streetlights, bike-parks, playground equipment, carpets, sanitary equipment and building products – such as steps, doors, window frames, floor coverings, wall panels.
Exemptions from the criteria shall apply to:
i) Mechanical fixtures and fittings, such as screws, nails, wheels and hinges are exempt from compliance with all criteria on materials.
i) Wood, wood-based materials, hard plastics and metals if they do not account for more than 3 % of the total furniture product weight (excluding packaging).
Proposal
Concerns over the 3% exemption  route for haz. subs etc.
Concerns over wording, such as business premises and so on.
Propose to upload a new scope text to BATIS and invite stakeholder feedback.
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4. Criteria overview Ecolabel criteria: Feedback: Proposal:
Product description
Hazardous substances
Wood & wood-based materials
Surface coatings / adhesives
Plastics
Metals
Leather
Textiles
Padding materials
Glass
Final product
Packaging
Consumer information
Feedback:
Too many criteria.
Unclear structure.
Confusion over plastics.
Laminate criteria needed.
Proposal:
Re-structure hazardous substance criteria  general text + material specific sub-criteria.
Surface coatings and adhesives to be included only as material specific sub-criteria.
Group leather, textiles, "faux leather" and padding materials as sub-criteria under "upholstery"
Simpler for applicants…
17 February 2019 4

5. Specific Ecolabel criteria issues:
Wording of text for sustainable wood.
Formaldehyde in wood-based panels.
Recyclability & recycled content criteria.
Confusion over plastics.
VOCs.

6. 1. Wording for sustainable wood:
Concern expressed about the lack of definitions in criterion for sustainable wood and the use of simple references to FSC and PEFC.
To align with previous text but should also use and provide definitions of terms such as "controlled wood", "reclaimed wood", "COC" and "mixed wood" as per FSC and PEFC systems.
Otherwise it may be confusing to the lay reader.
Proposed to consult with key stakeholders on wording of this text.

7. 2. Formaldehyde in wood-based panels:
Criteria for total free-formaldehyde content questioned if relevant  workplace safety...
E1 vs 50% E1?  unambitious versus too ambitious?
50% E1 is easier to achieve in some boards than in others.
Practical experience with IKEA and Nordic ecolabel.
Proposed to review experience with Nordic ecolabel criteria (<50% of E1 for certain materials and higher for others) and to compare with the ambition level of other non-EU initiatives in Japan and California.

8. 3. Recyclability & recycled content criteria:
Widely rejected by industry.
Considered that identifying/providing facilities for recycling is more the responsibility of local authorities than producers.
Recycled content for metal, plastic and glass criticised.
Recyclability criteria to be removed.
Metal recycled content criteria to be removed.
Glass recycled content to be removed.
Plastic recycled content to be modified but still included.

9. 4. Confusion over plastics:
A complex material  many guises in furniture
E.g. hard plastic, laminates, faux leather, foams etc.
Missing criteria for laminates, propose to define in conjunction with expert input.
Where could faux leather criteria fit? Is not leather, nor surface coating nor hard plastic…
Propose to re-structure criteria:
Upholstery criteria (defined as any padding and covering materials)
With sub criteria for:
padding materials,
textile fabrics/fibres,
leather and
plastics/faux leather.
Not to be confused with surface treatments (those will be sub-criteria for wood, metal and hard plastic criteria

10. 5. VOCs: A lot of interest in VOCs but also many concerns.
Flexible and logical criteria needed that give manufacturers different options for compliance.
VOCs already addressed in padding materials, surface treatments/coatings and wood-based panel sub-criteria.
Final product testing is expensive.
Certain materials and surface treatments should be exempted from testing requirement (inherently low VOC).
Flexibility to test components individually and then sum up total instead of needing to test complete furniture unit (lack of availability of large chambers).

11. Thank you for listening and any questions/comments welcome.
Shane Donatello
European Commission
JRC–IPTS, Sustainable Production and Consumption Unit
Edificio EXPO C/ Inca Garcilaso 3, 41092, Sevilla
Tel ; Fax
DISCLAIMER: The views expressed are purely those of the presenter and may not in any circumstances be regarded as stating an official position of the European Commission.