Commission Decision (EU) 2017/176 of 25 January 2017 on establishing EU Ecolabel criteria for wood-, cork- and bamboo-based floor coverings (notified under document C(2017) 303) (Text with EEA relevance. )

The product group of ‘wood-, cork- and bamboo-based floor coverings’ shall comprise indoor floor coverings, including wood floorings, laminate floorings, cork floor coverings and bamboo floorings which are made, for more than 80 % by weight of the final product, from wood, wood-based, cork, cork-based, bamboo and bamboo-based materials or fibres, not containing synthetic fibres in any of the composing layers. It shall not comprise wall coverings, coverings for external use, coverings with a structural function or levelling compounds.

For the purpose of this Decision, the following definitions shall apply: (1) ‘wood flooring’ means an assembly of wood elements, pre-assembled boards or parquet panels which constitute the wearing surface of the floor; (2) ‘cork floor coverings’ means floor coverings made of granulated cork mixed with a binder, and then cured, or several layers of cork, agglomerated or veneer, that can be pressed together with glue and are intended to be used with a coating; (3) ‘coating’ means a preparation within the meaning of Article 2(8) of Directive 2004/42/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council ; (4) ‘bamboo floor coverings’ means floor coverings made of bamboo in solid pieces or in agglomerates mixed with a binder; (5) ‘laminate flooring’ means a rigid floor covering with a surface layer consisting of one or more thin sheets of a fibrous material (usually paper), impregnated with aminoplastic thermosetting resins (usually melamine), pressed or bonded on a substrate, normally finished with a backer; (6) ‘semi volatile organic compound’ (SVOC) means all organic compounds which, in a capillary column coated with 5 % phenyl-polysiloxane and 95 % methyl-polysiloxane are eluting with a retention range between n-hexadecane (excluded) and n-docosane (included); (7) ‘R value’ means the sum of all Ri values where Ri value is the ratio Ci/LCIi, where Ci is the chamber mass concentration of compound i, and LCIi is the LCI (lowest concentration of interest) value of compound i defined under the European Collaborative Action on Urban Air, Indoor Environment and Human Exposure Reports ; (8) ‘substance’ means a substance within the meaning of Article 3(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council ; (9) ‘mixture’ means a mixture within the meaning of Article 3(2) or Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006; (10) ‘biocidal product’ means a biocidal product within the meaning of Article 3(1)(a) of Regulation (EU) No 528/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council ; (11) ‘preservative’ means any product falling under product-type 8 (Wood preservatives) as specified in Annex V to Regulation (EU) No 528/2012 including products used for the preservation of cork or bamboo; (12) ‘active substance’ means an active substance within the meaning of Article 3(1)(c) of Regulation (EU) No 528/2012; (13) ‘recycled material’ means material that has been reprocessed from recovered or reclaimed material by means of a manufacturing process and made into a final product or into a component for incorporation into a product, excluding waste wood, chips and fibres from logging and saw-milling operations, as defined in ISO 14021; (14) ‘wood-based material’ means material fabricated from wood fibres, wood chips or wood by one of several different processes that may involve the use of elevated temperatures, pressures and binding resins or adhesives. Wood-based materials comprise: hardboard, fibreboard, medium and high density fibreboard, particleboard, oriented strand board (OSB), plywood, and panels in solid wood. It can be coated by a finishing during the manufacturing production of the floor covering; (15) ‘cork-based material’ means material fabricated from cork fibres, cork chips or cork by one of several different processes that may involve the use of elevated temperatures, pressures and binding resins or adhesives; (16) ‘bamboo-based material’ means material fabricated from bamboo fibres, bamboo chips or bamboo by one of several different processes that may involve the use of elevated temperatures, pressures and binding resins or adhesives; (17) ‘synthetic fibres’ means all polymer fibres; (18) ‘renewable energy’ means energy from renewable sources (RES) within the meaning of Article 2(a) of Directive 2009/28/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council ; (19) ‘guarantee of origin’ means a guarantee of origin within the meaning of Article 2(j) of Directive 2009/28/EC.

In order to be awarded the EU Ecolabel under Regulation (EC) No 66/2010, a product shall fall within the product group ‘wood-, cork- and bamboo-based floor coverings’ as defined in Article 1 of this Decision and shall comply with the EU Ecolabel criteria as well as the related assessment and verification requirements set out in the Annex to this Decision.

The EU Ecolabel criteria for the product group ‘wood-, cork- and bamboo-based floor coverings’ and the related assessment and verification requirements shall be valid for six years from the date of notification of this Decision.

For administrative purposes, the code number assigned to the product group ‘wood-, cork- and bamboo- based floor coverings’ shall be ‘035’.

Decision 2010/18/EC is repealed.

By derogation from Article 6, applications for the EU Ecolabel for products falling within the product group ‘wooden floor coverings’ submitted within two months from the date of notification of this Decision may be submitted in accordance with the criteria set out in Decision 2010/18/EC or on the criteria set out in this Decision. EU Ecolabel licences awarded in accordance with the criteria set out in Decision 2010/18/EC may be used for 12 months from the date of notification of this Decision.

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.