1. Revision of EU Ecolabel Criteria for Wooden Floor Coverings
Preliminary Scoping
EU Ecolabel CB Forum
June 2014, Brussels
Joint Research Centre 
 The European Commission's in-house science service 

2. Content State of the art of the project
Current scope definition within the EU Ecolabel
Penetration of the EU Ecolabel
Preliminary market screening
Comparison with other environmental labels in Europe
Preliminary LCA screening
New EU Ecolabel scope definition proposal
Criteria modification proposals

3. 1. State of the art Next steps:
- uploading TECHNICAL BACKGROUND REPORT: August 2014
- uploading 1st draft CRITERIA: August 2014
Low participation of stakeholders: few replies to 1st questionnarier
Initial Stakeholder
communication
1st Ad hoc
Working group
meeting
2nd Ad hoc
Working group
meeting
Ecolabel Regulatory
Committee
EUEB/GPP AB
agree on
product group
Online
consultation
Online
consultation
Final
consultation
Preliminary report
Task 1: Scope and definition
Task 5: Draft criteria proposal
Task 6:
Draft
Criteria
proposal
Final
Criteria
proposal
Task 2: Market analysis
Task 3: Technical Analysis
Task 4: Improvement potential
January 2014
May 2014
June 2014
Oct 2014

4. 2. Current scope of the EU Ecolabel
The product group of 'wooden floor covering' shall comprise wood- and plant-based coverings: including wood and timber coverings, laminate floorings, cork coverings and bamboo floorings which are made, for more than 90 % in mass (in the final product), from wood, wood powder and/or wood/plant-based material. It does not apply to wall coverings, where properly indicated, or coverings for external use or for coverings with a structural function.
This product group will not include any covering treated with biocidal products at any stage of the production process, except where those biocidal products are included in Annex IA to Directive 98/8/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and where the active substance is authorised for the use in question according to Annex V to Directive 98/8/EC.
OJ L 123, , p. 1.

5. 3. Current EU Ecolabel penetration
Three-years old criteria and no EU Ecolabel licences have been awarded. One application is on-going
No penetration (partly) due to:
Lack of knowledge about the label on the consumer and retailer sector
Higher prices of ecolabelled products
Large bureaucracy for the producers to prepare the application and the required verification testings
Long approval process needed by the Competent Body
A significant share of the market potentially out of the scope: high wood and wood-based material content requirement
CURRENT PENETRATION OF EU ECOLABEL
More than 3 years after the approval of the ecological criteria for the award of the EU eolabel for wooden floor coverings, there seems to be only one application on-going
The lack of flooring awarded with the EU ecolabel can be partially due to
- the lack of knowledge about the existance of the ecolabel from the consumers and retailers side
- the large bureaucracy that the producers have to face to prepare the application and the requirements of verification
- the long approval process: difficulties to build up the competent bodies in some countries
- higher prices of ecolabelled products prevents from higher bid on the market
Another important issue is the changes on the current market:
- production shift from solid wood flooring towards laminate flooring whose wood content is lower than 90%, being out of the scope of the ecolabel.

6. 4. Market analysis and main aspects
The most relevant materials for the production of furniture are:
The most relevant materials for the production of furniture are:
4. Market analysis and main aspects
Different types of wooden floor covering classified as:
- solid wood and timber floorings
- laminate floorings
- cork floorings
- bamboo floorings
EU furniture production by materials
 different types of wooden flooring:
- solid wood flooring:
- mosaic wood
- lamparquet
- multi-layer solid wood
- laminate flooring
- direct pressure laminate flooring
- high pressure laminate flooring
- cork flooring
- tiles
- laminate cork flooring
- bamboo 6 6

7. The most relevant materials for the production of furniture are:
Different types of wooden flooring depending on: - the type of wood (wood, timber, wood powder or chips and/or plant- based material) - the type of forest - the technology: solid wood strips, tiles, engineered flooring - the type of additional materials: adhesives, resins, coating surfaces, varnishes, etc Different uses (domestic or commercial purposes) but all of them are restricted to - internal use - non-structural function - no wall covering
EU furniture production by materials
 different types of wooden flooring:
- solid wood flooring:
- mosaic wood
- lamparquet
- multi-layer solid wood
- laminate flooring
- direct pressure laminate flooring
- high pressure laminate flooring
- cork flooring
- tiles
- laminate cork flooring
- bamboo 7 7

8. 3. Market analysis and main aspects
Figure 2. Market value of EU 27 furniture by materials (2011)
Figure 2. Market value of EU 27 furniture by materials (2011)
Figure 1. Furniture production in the EU 27 classified by materials (2011)
3. Market analysis and main aspects
Although the development of the flooring market in the last years is not shown, the main issues are;
Decrease in the dominance of solid-wood flooring
Main producers (
Main consumers:
Increase in the production and consumption of the laminate flooring.
Main producers (80% of the EU market, 1st producers in the world): sweden, germany and poland
Cork: production concentrated in PT and ES using the left-overs and residues produced in the wine bottle stoppers
Bamboo: increasing trend, mainly imported from china 8

9. 5. Comparison with other eco-labels in Europe
Product group
Scope
NORDIC SWAN
Floor covering
Bamboo flooring, solid wood, parquet, laminate, linoleum and carpeting intended for indoor use
BLUE ANGEL
Low-emission floor coverings, panels and doors for interiors made of wood and wood-based materials
IN: parquets (multi-layers, veneer floorings, painted surface floorings) and laminates
OUT: cork (they fall within the scope of "resilient floor coverings")
OSTERREICHISCHES UMWELTZEICHEN
Wood flooring, laminate flooring and floor coverings
Resilient and textile floor coverings, wood and laminate floorings
NF Environment
Marque NF Parquets
Solid wood flooring (solid groove, covering elements, mosaics, clipboard lamparquet) and laminated flooring
ENVIRONMENTALY FRIENDLY PRODUCTS
Wooden flooring
Wood and timber coverings, laminate flooring, cork covering and bamboo floor coverings

10. 6. Proposed modification of the scope:
The product group of 'wooden floor covering' shall comprise wood- and plant-based coverings: including
wood and timber coverings,
laminate floorings,
cork coverings and bamboo floorings
which are made, for more than 80 % in mass (in the final product), from wood, wood powder and/or wood/plant-based material. It does
not apply to wall coverings, where properly indicated,
or coverings for external use
or for coverings with a structural function.
This product group will not include any covering treated with biocidal products at any stage of the production process, except for those complying with the requirements on hazardous substances and containing only active substances approved under the biocidal Products Regulation (EC) No 528/2012 (for product group 8 or 18).

11. 7. Preliminary screening of LCA studies
Sources of information:
LCA studies performed by flooring companies (EU producers)
Independent studies performed by universities, research centres, etc:
Comparison among different types of floorings e.g. tiles, wooden flooring, terrazzo, etc
Scarcity of studies comparing the environmental performance among wooden floor coverings
Environmental product declarations (EPD)
BREF on wooden-based panels
But, scarce input from stakeholders!!

12. 6.1.- SOLID WOOD FLOORINGS
Production stage causes the highest environmental impacts:
Kiln drying
Use of surface coatings (non-LCA impacts)
There are small differences in the total environmental impacts among the thickness and type of products, however:
- the thicker the flooring the lower the environmental impact (longer lifetime)
- blocks cause the lowest environmental damages followed by boards and multilayer
Preliminary comparison among the solid wood floorings shows:
Little differences among the types of solid wood floorings depending on:
Thickness of flooring  tends to decrease the overall environmental impact due to the longer lifetime of the product
Type of technology: blocks cause lower ENIM, boards and multilayer
Production stage causes the highest environmental impacts due to the kiln drying:
Use of fossil fuels to get the energy
Use of surface coatings causes ENIM during production and use stage
Energy recovery at the end of the life and CO2 storages in the forestry and use-phase provides important credits

13. 6.2.- LAMINATE WOOD FLOORINGS
Environmental impacts are mainly produced during:
The energy consumption in processing (production stage) due to the demands for
Electricity and
steam
The production and use of adhesives (glue) and resins:
Mostly use organic solvent adhesives
Energy and resources consumption for their production
Wood is regarded as a CO2 storage until the end-of- life of the product:
Incineration will release the storage CO2

14. 5.3.- CORK FLOORINGS
Environmental impacts are mainly produced during the production stage due to:
Energy consumption for the production of the wood-based panel (HDF)
Production and use of PVC as coating surface (if needed)
Damages to the ecosystem due to the loss of the biodiversity (land use)
Among the types of cork floorings the lower environmental impacts were achieved by
1- the natural cork, followed by
2- the natural cork floating floor and
3- natural cork with PVC coating.

15. 6.4.- BAMBOO FLOORINGS
Environmental impacts are mainly produced during:
The energy consumption in processing (production stage) bamboo
The international sea transportation (transportation stage) of finished products to the main European harbours
The local transportation (transportation stage) of finished products to the consumers and distribution centres by road
The use of resins (production stage)

16. 6.5.- Main findings from the LCA screening
The main environmental impacts are, in general caused by:
1.- The energy consumption demanded during the production stage, especially because of the drying step
2.- The production and use of resins and other coating treatments in the production stages because of:
- the energy consumption and resources used to produce the resins and coatings
- the emissions of pollutants (e.g. formaldehyde and VOCs) during the production and use stage
3.- The land use for the extraction of the raw materials and the loss of biodiversity.
4.- Environmental credits can be awarded if the wooden floorings are recovered at the end of their life:
- energy recovery: saving fossil fuels
- recycling as they are storage of CO2
5.- The international sea transportation of the raw materials or finished products
From that analysis it resulted that the main environmental issues of relevance for WFC are the energy consumption and sourcing of wood. Besides key environmental impacts were identified such as
- Loss of biodiversity and soil erosion and degradation, as a result of unsustainable forest management and illegal logging;
- Consumption of non-renewable resources such as fossil hydrocarbons for energy and material production;
- Water and energy consumption for the production of several materials;
Use and release of hazardous substances during production, use and end-of-life;
- Use of organic solvents and further generation of VOC emissions;
- Packaging;

17. 7. Criteria modifications proposal
Studying the feasibility of increasing the strictness of the current EU Ecolabel criteria regarding :
1.- Legality of wood based on the new Regulation
2.- Percentage of certified sustainable wood or recycled wood used as raw material
3.- Reduction in the use of organic solvent additives
- decreasing the VOCs contents in adhesives
- decreasing the content of free formaldehyde in products and preparations
- prohibiting the use of phthalates
- decreasing the quantity of surface treatment substances applied
4.- No biocides applied for final disinfected effect. Only products containing active substances included in the Biocidal Product Regulation (EC) No 528/2012 (group 8 and 18) can be added

18. 7. Criteria modifications proposal
Studying the feasibility of increasing the strictness of the current EU Ecolabel criteria regarding :
5.- Stricter limits on the energy consumption during the production stage
6.- Development and implementation of
- waste minimization management programme
- energy management programme
7.- Promotion of recycled materials and recyclability in packaging
8.- Increasing information to the end users on maintenance
- not need for organic solvent products
- ensuring durability and fitness for use for each specific use

19. http:/susproc.jrc.ec.europa.eu/flooring/
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