Commission Decision (EU) 2020/1803 of 27 November 2020 establishing the EU Ecolabel criteria for printed paper, stationery paper, and paper carrier bag products (notified under document C(2020) 8155) (Text with EEA relevance)

1 The product group ‘printed paper, stationery paper, and paper carrier bag products’ shall comprise the following products: (a) printed paper products that consist of at least 90 % by weight of paper, paperboard or paper-based substrates, except for books, catalogues, booklets or forms that shall consist of at least 80 % by weight of paper or paperboard or paper-based substrates. Inserts, covers and any printed paper parts of the final product shall be considered to form part of the product except for non-fixed inserts (such as flyers, removable stickers) that are sold or provided with printed paper products. If the EU Ecolabel is intended to be placed on non-fixed inserts, they shall fulfil the requirements of the Annex to this Decision. Fixed inserts to the printed paper product (not intended to be removed) shall fulfil the requirements of the Annex to this Decision; (b) envelopes that consist of at least 90 % by weight of paper, paperboard or paper-based substrates; (c) paper carrier bags, including wrapping paper, that consist of 100 % by weight of paper, paperboard or paper-based substrates; (d) stationery paper products, including filing products, that consist of at least 70 % by weight of paper, paperboard or paper based substrates, except for suspension files and folders with metal fastener to which the threshold does not apply.

2 For products referred to in point (a) of paragraph 1 that shall consist of at least 80 % by weight of paper or paperboard or paper-based substrates and for products referred to in point (d) of paragraph 1, the plastic component cannot exceed 10 % by weight, except for ring binders, exercise books, notebooks, diaries, and lever arch files where the plastic weight cannot exceed 13 %.

3 The metal weight cannot exceed 30 g per product, except for suspension files, folders with metal fasteners, ring binders and lever arch files having a filing capacity of up to 225 sheets where it can be up to 75 g and except for lever arch files having a filing capacity of more than 225 sheets, where it can be up to 170 g.

4 The product group ‘printed paper, stationery paper, and paper carrier bag products’ shall not include the following products or materials: (a) packaging and elements adhered to packaging such as labels (with the exception of paper carrier bags and wrapping paper); (b) corrugated board; (c) food contact materials and articles intended to come into contact with food that constitutes the subject matter of article 1 of Regulation (EC) No 1935/2004of the European Parliament and of the Council ; (d) products falling within the product group 'tissue paper and tissue products' as defined by Article 2 in Commission Decision (EU) 2019/70 ; (e) fragranced printed paper products, fragranced stationery paper products, and fragranced carrier bags; (f) polyvinyl chloride (PVC).

For the purposes of this Decision, the following definitions shall apply: (1) ‘binders’ means paper-based products used for storing of documents or magazines and consisting of a cover, usually made of board, with rings for holding loose papers together, including ring binders and lever arch files; (2) ‘books’ means yarn-bound or adhesive-bound printed paper products with hard or soft covers, not including annual reports, journals, brochures, magazines, and catalogues published on a regular basis; (3) ‘filing products’ mean product used for organization, storage and protection of paper documents, including suspension files and lever arch files; (4) ‘folder’ means a folding case or cover used for storage of loose papers including products including indices and dividers, document wallets, square cut folders, suspension files, cardboard boxes and 3-flap folders; (5) ‘insert’ means an extra leaf or section, printed independently from the printed paper product which is either placed within the pages of a printed paper product and may be removed (non-fixed insert) or bound into the pages of the printed paper product and thus form an integral part thereof (fixed insert) including multipage advertisements, booklets, brochures, reply cards, or other promotional materials; (6) ‘packaging’ means all products made of any material of any nature to be used for the containment, protection, handling, delivery or presentation of goods, from raw materials to processed goods, from the producer to the user or the consumer; (7) ‘paper carrier bags’ mean paper-based products used for the handling or transportation of goods. (8) ‘printed paper product’ means product bearing the printed image resulting from the processing of a printing material printed onto paper and including finishing. (9) ‘stationery paper products’ mean writing and filing materials made of paper, including envelopes and office materials; (10) ‘wrapping paper’ means a paper sheet or roll used for wrapping items such as gifts and parcels;

In order for a product to be awarded the EU Ecolabel under Regulation (EC) No 66/2010 for the product group ‘printed paper, stationery paper, and paper carrier bag products’, it shall fall within the definition of that product group as specified in Article 1 of this Decision and shall comply with the criteria and related assessment and verification requirements set out in the Annex to this Decision.

The EU Ecolabel criteria for the product group ‘printed paper, stationery paper, and paper carrier bag products’ and the related assessment and verification requirements shall be valid until 31 December 2028.

For administrative purposes, the code number assigned to the product group ‘printed paper, stationery paper, and paper carrier bag products’ shall be ‘053’.

Decisions 2012/481/EU and 2014/256/EU are repealed.

1 Notwithstanding Article 6, applications submitted before the date of adoption of this Decision for the EU Ecolabel for the product group ‘printed paper’ as defined in Decision 2012/481/EU shall be evaluated in accordance with the conditions laid down in Decision 2012/481/EU.

2 Notwithstanding Article 6, applications submitted before the date of adoption of this Decision for the EU Ecolabel for the product group ‘converted paper products’ as defined in Decision 2014/256/EU shall be evaluated in accordance with the conditions laid down in Decision 2014/256/EU.

3 Applications for the EU Ecolabel for products falling within the product group ‘printed paper, stationery paper, and paper carrier bag products’ submitted on or within two months from the date of adoption of this Decision may be based either on the criteria set out in this Decision, or on the criteria set out in Decision 2012/481/EU for product group ‘printed paper’, or in Decision 2014/256/EU for product group ‘converted paper products’, as applicable. Those applications shall be evaluated in accordance with the criteria on which they are based.

4 EU Ecolabel licenses awarded on the basis of an application evaluated in accordance with the criteria set out in Decision 2012/481/EU or Decision 2014/256/EU may be used for 18 months from the date of adoption of this Decision.

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.