FOCUS ON GPP CRITERIA

The GPP criteria used in LIFE FUTURE will allow an easy inclusion of green requirements in public tender documents. These are based on the EU GPP Toolkit, which provides a specific set of environmental criteria for various types of product categories, including furniture products (currently under revision). These criteria aim to reach a good balance between environmental performance, cost considerations, market availability and ease of verification.

SUSTAINABLE USE OF WOOD IN GPP CRITERIA FOR FURNITURE

Wood is one of the most frequently used raw materials for manufacturing urban furniture. We can found in our cities a wide range of furniture products made with this material, such as benches, bins, planters, playgrounds and so forth.

One of the most important GPP criteria for urban furniture is related to the legal and sustainable source of the wood. All wood must originate from sustainably managed forests. The municipality can verify the fulfilment of this criterion with an appropriate certificate (FSC, PEFC or any other equivalent).

Outdoor use of the wood requires additional materials such as preservatives, paints and varnishes. GPP criteria for these substances include the lack of arsenic, chrome or organic tin. In order to enable the verification of this criterion, the supplier must provide a list of the preservation substances used in the furniture and their safety data sheets. In addition, GPP criteria establish the maximum amount of substances as VOC, aziridine, chromium (VI) compounds, nitrates, etc., that will must be justified with specific documentation. Formaldehyde emissions are also limited and verified via eco-labels or test procedures.

Finally, an important requirement is the use of recycled material. The postconsumer recycled content of wood-based materials is positively considered for the final assessment.

Verification of many of these criteria are accomplished with a recognised ecolabel. In general, wood elements will be well regarded in the environmental assessment, since wood is a natural, renewable and recoverable material.

AIMPLAS Instituto Tecnológico del Plástico

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