Commission Decision (EU) 2019/70Show full title

FRAMEWORK

Aims of the criteria

The criteria aim, in particular, to reduce discharges of toxic or eutrophic substances into waters and environmental damage or risks related to the use of energy (climate change, acidification, ozone depletion, depletion of non-renewable resources). To this end, the criteria aim to:

• reduce energy consumption and related emissions to air,

• reduce environmental damage by reducing emissions to water and waste creation,

• reduce environmental damage or risks related to the use of hazardous chemicals, and

• safeguard forests by requiring recycled fibres or virgin fibres to be sourced from forests and areas that are managed in a sustainable manner.

Criteria for awarding the EU Ecolabel to ‘graphic paper’:

1.

Emissions to water and air;

2.

Energy use;

3.

Fibres: conserving resources, sustainable forest management;

4.

Restricted hazardous substances and mixtures;

5.

Waste management;

6.

Fitness for use;

7.

Information on the packaging;

8.

Information appearing on the EU Ecolabel.

The ecological criteria cover the production of pulp, including all constituent sub-processes from the point at which virgin fibres or recycled fibres enter the production site to the point at which the pulp leaves the pulp mill. For the paper production processes, the ecological criteria cover all sub-processes in the paper mill, from pulp preparation for graphic papermaking to winding onto the mother reel.

The ecological criteria do not cover the transport and packaging of the raw materials (e.g. wood), pulp or paper. Paper conversion is also not included.

Assessment and verification: The specific assessment and verification requirements are indicated within each criterion.

Where the applicant is required to provide declarations, documentation, analyses, test reports or other evidence to show compliance with the criteria, these may originate from the applicant and/or his supplier(s) and/or their suppliers, etc. as appropriate.

Competent bodies shall preferentially recognise attestations and verifications that are issued by bodies accredited according to the relevant harmonised standard for testing and calibration laboratories, and verifications issued by bodies that are accredited according to the relevant harmonised standard for bodies certifying products, processes and services.

Where appropriate, test methods other than those indicated for each criterion may be used if the competent body assessing the application accepts their equivalence.

Where appropriate, competent bodies may require supporting documentation and may carry out independent verifications or on-site inspections to check compliance with these criteria.

The graphic paper product needs to meet all respective requirements of the country where it is placed on the market. The applicant shall declare the product's compliance with this requirement.

The following definitions shall apply:

(1)

‘air dry tonne’ means air dry tonne (ADt) of pulp expressed as 90 % dryness;

(2)

‘chemical pulp’ means fibrous material obtained by removal from the raw material of a considerable part of non-cellulosic compounds that can be removed by chemical treatment (cooking, delignification, bleaching);

(3)

‘CMP’ means chemimechanical pulp;

(4)

‘CTMP’ means chemithermomechanical pulp;

(5)

‘de-inked pulp’ means pulp made from paper for recycling from which inks and other contaminants have been removed;

(6)

‘dyes’ means an intensely coloured or fluorescent organic material, which imparts colour to a substrate by selective absorption. Dyes are soluble and/or go through an application process which, at least temporarily, destroys any crystal structure of the dye. Dyes are retained in the substrate by absorption, solution, and mechanical retention, or by ionic or covalent chemical bonds;

(7)

‘ECF pulp’ means elemental chlorine-free bleached pulp;

(8)

‘integrated production’ means pulp and paper is produced at the same site. The pulp is not dried before paper manufacture. The production of paper/board is directly connected with the production of pulp;

(9)

‘mechanical woodpulp paper or board’ means paper or board containing mechanical woodpulp as an essential constituent of its fibre composition;

(10)

‘metal-based pigments and dyes’ means dyes and pigments containing more than 50 % by weight of the relevant metal compound(s);

(11)

‘non-integrated production’ means production of market pulp (for sale) in mills that do not operate paper machines, or production of paper/board using only pulp produced in other plants (market pulp);

(12)

‘paper machine broke’ means paper materials that are discarded by the paper machine process but that have properties allowing it to be reused on site by being incorporated back into the same manufacturing process that generated it. For the purposes of this Decision, this term shall not be extended to conversion processes, which are considered as distinct processes to the paper machine;

(13)

‘pigments’ means coloured, black, white or fluorescent particulate organic or inorganic solids which usually are insoluble in, and essentially physically and chemically unaffected by, the vehicle or substrate in which they are incorporated. They alter appearance by selective absorption and/or by scattering of light. Pigments are usually dispersed in vehicles or substrates for application, for instance in the manufacture of inks, paints, plastics or other polymeric materials. Pigments retain a crystal or particulate structure throughout the coloration process;

(14)

‘recycled fibres’ means fibres diverted from the waste stream during a manufacturing process or generated by households or by commercial, industrial and institutional facilities in their role as end-users of the product. These fibres can no longer be used for their intended purpose. It excludes reutilisation of materials generated in a process and capable of being reclaimed within the same process that generated them (paper machine broke — own produced or purchased);

(15)

‘TCF pulp’ means totally chlorine-free bleached pulp;

(16)

‘TMP’ means thermomechanical pulp.