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

2. Some issues to consider with furniture:
recycled content criteria for plastics & metals
definition of "recycled material“
definition of “recyclable”
definition of “easy to dismantle”.

3. Recycled content: Scope to be expanded beyond wood
Metals and plastics  higher embodied energy but
 good properties and “recyclable”.
Metal recycling market is mature.
Plastic recycling not so, but can be done - examples.
Verification of recycled content…

4. Recycled content
Example of a table.
Wood
shall be legally sourced and traceable.
≥70% sustainably sourced (includes recycled wood).
Plastic
Up to 10% wt. virgin material allowed.
If >10% wt.  then needs ≥50% recycled content.
Metal
Up to 20% wt. virgin material allowed.
If >20% wt.  then needs ≥50% recycled content.
Encourages wood (lower energy) in furniture without limiting metal or plastic.

5. Recycled material Definition of recycled material:
Need to be careful, easy to "cheat" if definition is not clear. Suggest following ISO 14021:
Post-consumer – quite obvious
Pre-consumer – needs definition
should exclude scrap material that can be reclaimed within the same process that generated it. "

6. Legal definition of "recyclable" and "easy to dismantle".
In theory it can be argued that almost every material is recyclable….
Should we list materials that are considered realistically recyclable only? - based on markets and current industrial practice.
How easy is "easy to dismantle"? That 1-2 people can do it with no specialist tools? Normal tools being considered as those such as a screwdriver, allan key, hammer, spanner etc?
8 April 2019

7. Thank you!