The product group ‘hard covering products’ shall comprise floor tile, wall tile, roof tile, block, slab, panel, paver, kerb, table-top, vanity top and kitchen-worktop products for internal or external use.
Commission Decision (EU) 2021/476 of 16 March 2021 establishing the EU Ecolabel criteria for hard covering products (notified under document C (2021) 1579) (Text with EEA relevance)
Commission Decision (EU) 2021/476 of 16 March 2021 establishing the EU Ecolabel criteria for hard covering products (notified under document C (2021) 1579) (Text with EEA relevance)
THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
Having regard to Regulation (EC) No 66/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2009 on the EU Ecolabel(1), and in particular Article 8(2) thereof,
After consulting the European Union Ecolabelling Board,
Whereas:
Under Regulation (EC) No 66/2010, the EU Ecolabel may be awarded to those products with a reduced environmental impact during their entire life cycle.
Regulation (EC) No 66/2010 provides that specific EU Ecolabel criteria are to be established according to product groups.
Commission Decision 2009/607/EC(2) established criteria and related assessment and verification requirements for the product group ‘hard coverings’. The period of validity of those criteria and requirements has been extended to 30 June 2021 by Commission Decision (EU) 2017/2076(3).
In order to better reflect best practice in the market for this expanded product group and to take account of innovations introduced in the intervening period, it is appropriate to establish a new set of criteria for ‘hard covering products’.
The EU Ecolabel Fitness check(4) of 30 June 2017, reviewing the implementation of Regulation (EC) No 66/2010, concluded on the need to develop a more strategic approach for the EU Ecolabel, also including the bundling of closely related product groups where appropriate.
In line with those conclusions and after consulting the European Union Ecolabelling Board (EUEB), it is appropriate to revise the criteria for the product group ‘hard coverings’ and to expand its scope to include other products used for similar primary purposes, which are made of the same materials and for which there is market interest.
The New Circular Economy Action Plan for a cleaner and more competitive Europe(5) adopted on 11 March 2020 stipulates that the durability, recyclability and recycled content requirements will be more systematically included in the EU Ecolabel criteria.
In the production of natural stone and precast concrete products, a significant proportion of the environmental impacts are associated with specific supply chain actors, who currently have little or no direct incentive to comply with the EU Ecolabel criteria. After consulting the EUEB, it is appropriate to allow for the EU Ecolabel to also be awarded to intermediate business-to-business products in the natural stone sector (i.e. dimension stone blocks produced in quarries) and in the precast concrete sector (i.e. hydraulic binders produced in kilns or alternative cements). This will also facilitate assessment and verification by competent bodies when such intermediate products are sold to EU Ecolabel license holders.
After consulting the EUEB, it is appropriate to introduce mandatory and optional criteria requirements, as well as a scoring system. Points may be granted in case of compliance with optional requirements or according to how far an applicant goes beyond compliance with some mandatory requirements. For a product to be awarded the EU Ecolabel, it must both comply with all mandatory requirements and attain a total minimum number of points.
The scoring system offers a more flexible approach to obtaining the EU Ecolabel for the best environmental performing hard covering products on the market, allows for greater weighting to be applied to criteria that are associated with the product’s most significant environmental impacts, and both encourages and recognises continuous environmental improvement for license holders.
The EU Ecolabel criteria for hard covering products aim, in particular, at promoting products that have a lower environmental impact along their life cycle, are produced using material efficient and energy efficient processes, with reduced emissions to air, and reduced water consumption. Considering efforts towards climate neutrality and the decarbonisation of Union industry, limits have been set on process CO2 emissions for combustion processes, and the use of renewable electricity and the calculation of the carbon footprint are incentivised by the award of points. In order to contribute towards the transition to a more circular economy, the criteria set mandatory requirements on the reuse of process waste and incentivise the incorporation of recycled/secondary material content, where appropriate.
The EU Ecolabel criteria and related assessment and verification requirements for the product group should remain valid until 31 December 2028, taking into account the innovation cycle for the product group.
For reasons of legal certainty, Decision 2009/607/EC should be repealed.
A transitional period should be allowed for producers whose products have been awarded the EU Ecolabel for hard coverings on the basis of the criteria set out in Decision 2009/607/EC, so that they have sufficient time to adapt their products to comply with the new criteria and requirements. For a limited period after adoption of this Decision, producers should also be allowed to submit applications based either on the criteria established by Decision 2009/607/EC or on the new criteria established by this Decision. EU Ecolabel licences awarded in accordance with the criteria set out in the old Decision may be used for 12 months from the date of adoption of this Decision.
The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee established by Article 16 of Regulation (EC) No 66/2010,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:
Article 1
1.
2.
The product group ‘hard covering products’ shall not include:
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refractory ceramics, technical ceramics, clay pipes, ceramic tableware, ceramic ornamental ware or ceramic sanitary ware;
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masonry units defined in the EN 771 series of standards;
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clay roof tiles and fittings defined in EN 1304;
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reinforced precast concrete products;
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ancillary products associated with the installation and fitting of hard covering products such as grouts, adhesives, mechanical fastenings and underlay materials.
3.
Hard covering products shall be made of one of the following materials:
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natural stone (also known as dimension stone);
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agglomerated stone based on resin binders;
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ceramic or fired clay;
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precast concrete or compressed earth based on hydraulic binders or alternative cements.
Article 2
For the purposes of this Decision, the following definitions shall apply:
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‘agglomerated stone’, means an industrial product manufactured from a mixture of aggregates of various sizes and natures (generally coming from natural stones), sometimes mixed with other compatible materials, additions and resin binder.
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‘alternative cement’ means any cement not meeting the compositional requirements for common cements defined in EN 197-1(6), including cements with very low Portland cement clinker contents as well as alkali-activated cements and geopolymers, which may contain no Portland cement clinker at all.
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‘ceramic’ means a material based on clay materials or other non-metallic inorganic materials whose characteristic properties of high strength, wear resistance, long service life, chemical inertness, non-toxicity and resistance to heat and fire are a consequence of a carefully optimised time-temperature transformation occurring during firing operation in a kiln.
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‘compressed earth blocks’ means products, which have regular and verified characteristics obtained by the static or dynamic compression of earth in a humid state followed by immediate demoulding and whose cohesion, both in the humid and dry state, is due to the clay fraction within the earth material and which may be enhanced by the use of additives.
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‘fired clay’ means a material produced predominantly from clay or other argillaceous materials by shaping (extrusion and/or pressing), drying and firing of the prepared clay, with or without additives.
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‘floor tile’ means a flat, usually square or rectangular shaped tile within standardised dimensional ranges, which may be shaped by extrusion, by direct moulding or be cut to size from slabs and that, when laid together, form the facing layer of internal or external floor structures that is normally intended to be visible to or come into contact with users of the floor area.
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‘hydraulic binder’ means a common cement or a hydraulic lime, i.e. a finely ground inorganic material which, when mixed with water, forms a paste which sets and hardens by means of hydration reactions and processes and which, after hardening, retains its strength and stability even under water. Common cements must fall within one of the 27 cement classes defined in EN 197-1 and hydraulic limes must meet the requirements defined in EN 459-1(7) for natural hydraulic limes, formulated limes or hydraulic limes.
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‘kerb’ means straight or curved units within standardised dimensional ranges, which may be chamfered or sloped on the facing edge and whose primary purpose is to separate surfaces of the same or different levels, for example as edging to a road or footpath.
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‘kitchen-worktop’ means a work surface, directly moulded or cut to size from slabs and fixed to a structure either mechanically or by means of specific adhesives that is primarily intended to be used for preparing food.
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‘natural stone product’ and ‘dimension stone’ mean pieces of naturally occurring rock, where the natural stone products have been cut and finished to specified sizes, shapes and surface properties in a transformation plant, whereas dimension stone is the intermediate input material to the transformation plant, consisting of large blocks or slabs of naturally occurring rock obtained from quarrying operations.
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‘paver’ means a unit within standardised dimensional ranges that is rectangular or any other shape that allows it to be laid in a repeating pattern in the surface course of a flexible pavement or rigid pavement and that may be joined using mortar, adhesives or interlocking mechanisms.
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‘precast concrete’, means products made of concrete and manufactured in accordance with specific product standards in a place different from the final destination of use, protected from adverse weather conditions during production and which is the result of an industrial process under a factory production control system and with the possibility of sorting before delivery, including single and dual-layered ‘terrazzo tiles’, as per EN 13748-1:2004 and 13748-2:2004(8).
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‘roof tile’ means a product for discontinuous laying on pitched roofs.
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‘table-top’ means the top part of a piece of table furniture, directly moulded or cut to size from slabs, and fixed to a table structure either mechanically or by means of specific adhesives that is primarily intended to provide a surface where users can rest, sit, eat, study or work, indoors or outdoors, and in domestic or non-domestic environments.
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‘vanity top’ means a surface, directly moulded or cut to size from slabs, and fixed to a structure either mechanically or by means of specific adhesives, that is primarily intended to be used in domestic and non-domestic bathrooms or similar facilities where personal hygiene practices are regularly carried out (e.g. splash zone).
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‘wall tile’ means a thin, usually square or rectangular shaped tile within standardised dimensional ranges, which may be shaped by extrusion, by direct moulding or be cut to size from slabs, and that, when laid together, form the facing layer of interior or exterior facing wall structures that is normally intended to be visible to or come into contact with passers-by.
Article 3
In order for a product to be awarded the EU Ecolabel under Regulation (EC) No 66/2010 for the product group ‘hard covering products’, it shall fall within the definition of that product group as specified in Article 1 of this Decision, shall comply with all of the mandatory requirements of the criteria and shall obtain at least the required minimum number of scoring points as set out in the Annex to this Decision.
Article 4
The EU Ecolabel criteria for the product group ‘hard covering products’ and the related assessment and verification requirements shall be valid until 31 December 2028.