Commission Decision of 5 June 2014 establishing the ecological criteria for the award of the EU Ecolabel for textile products (notified under document C(2014) 3677) (Text with EEA relevance) (2014/350/EU) (c. 350)

ANNEX U.K.

EU ECOLABEL CRITERIA U.K.

1. TEXTILE FIBRE CRITERIA U.K.

Criterion 9. Man-made cellulose fibres (including viscose, modal and lyocell) U.K.

Pulp production sub-criteria U.K.

9(a) A minimum 25 % of pulp fibres shall be manufactured from wood that has been grown according to the principles of sustainable forestry management as defined by the UN FAO. The remaining proportion of pulp fibres shall be from pulp that is sourced from legal forestry and plantations. U.K.

Assessment and verification

:

the applicant shall obtain from the fibre manufacturer(s) valid, independently certified chain of custody certificates demonstrating that the wood fibres have been grown according to sustainable forestry management principles and/or are from legal sources. FSC, PEFC or equivalent schemes shall be accepted as independent certification.

The fibre manufacturer shall demonstrate that due diligence processes have been followed as specified in Regulation (EU) No 995/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council(1) in order to ensure that timber has been legally harvested. Valid EU FLEGT (Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade) or UN CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) licenses and/or third party certification shall be accepted as evidence of legal sourcing.

9(b) Pulp produced from cotton linters shall, as a minimum, meet with the requirements of either cotton criterion 1a or 1b. U.K.

Assessment and verification

:

as indicated in the corresponding criteria

9(c) Pulp used to manufacture fibres shall be bleached without the use of elemental chlorine. The resulting total amount of chlorine and organically bound chlorine in the finished fibres (OX) shall not exceed 150 ppm or in the wastewater from pulp manufacturing (AOX) shall not exceed 0,170 kg/ADt pulp. U.K.

Assessment and verification

:

the applicant shall provide a test report showing compliance with either the OX or the AOX requirement, using the appropriate test method: OX: ISO 11480 (controlled combustion and microcoulometry).

AOX: ISO 9562

9(d) A minimum of 50 % of the pulp used to manufacture fibres shall be purchased from dissolving pulp mills that recover value from their spent process liquors either by: U.K.

(i)

Generating on-site electricity and steam

(ii)

Manufacturing chemical co-products.

Assessment and verification

:

the applicant shall provide a list of pulp suppliers supplying the raw material used to make the fibres and the proportion of pulp that they supply. Documentation and evidence shall be provided that the required proportion of suppliers have the appropriate energy generating equipment and/or co-product recovery and manufacturing systems installed at related production sites.

Fibre production sub-criteria U.K.

9(e) For viscose and modal fibres, the sulphur content of the emissions of sulphur compounds to air from fibre production processes, expressed as an annual average, shall not exceed the following performance values in Table 4. U.K.

Table 4

Viscose and Modal fibre sulphur emissions values

Fibre type	Performance value (g S/kg)
Staple fibre	30 g/kg
Filament fibre
Batch washing Integrated washing	40 g/kg 170 g/kg

Assessment and verification

:

the applicant shall provide detailed documentation and/or test reports showing compliance with this criterion, together with a declaration of compliance.

(1)

Regulation (EU) No 995/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 October 2010 laying down the obligations of operators who place timber and timber products on the market Text with EEA relevance (OJ L 295, 12.11.2010, p. 23).