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Environmental Requirements |
Core Environmental Performance Characteristics |
3.1 Fitness for Purpose
Certified products should be good performers in their
intended application. It is implied that certain standards of
product performance are implicit in the label. The manufacturer
of the product must ensure that the product is fit for its
intended purpose |
Formway Furniture is a Company
based in Wellington, New Zealand, where they manufacture office
furniture for licensed distribution around the world. Formway
Furniture has 2 show rooms in Auckland, and has an outlet in
Rockdale, Sydney. Their furniture is shipped around the world in
kit form.
The Life chair has been on the
market since 2002. There is no current externally certified ISO
9001 system for the Formway Furniture manufacturing plant.
However, there are internal procedures established to ensure
production quality. Parts are visually checked as part of a
Quality Assurance procedure upon arrival at Formway Furniture.
The LIFE chair has been quality
tested and issued an AFRDI certification no 6228/1 (expiry
22/5/09). The LIFE Chair meets European Standard EN 1335:2000,
British Standard BS 5459.2-2000 Specification for Performance
Requirements and tests for office furniture- Part 2: Office
pedestal seating and Australian/ New Zealand Standard AS/NZS
4438:1997 Height Adjustable Swivel Chairs Test Level 6.
Formway has provided
documentation on the warranty Terms and Conditions for the
Australian market. Formway provide a replacement parts policy
for the length of the entire warranty term of ten years.
Formway also provide a
maintenance manual with the LIFE Chair during sale of the
product. |
3.2.1 Timber and Other Natural
Materials
3.2.1.1 Controversial Sources
Wood and other natural materials from sources that are not
certified under a recognised certification scheme (e.g. FSC or
AFS) as being sustainably managed shall not originate from
illegal harvesting, genetically modified organisms, or
uncertified high conservation value communities |
An inspection of the manufacturing
plant in New Zealand and an ingredients list for the LIFE chair
has confirmed that there is no wood in the product under
assessment. |
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3.2.1.2 Treatment Wood and
natural materials used in furniture and fittings products may
not be treated with fungicides and insecticides that are
classified due to their hazardous nature by the World Health
Organisation as type 1a and Type 1b for storage and/or
transportation. |
A review of the ingredients list
for the LIFE Chair and an on-site inspection for the
manufacturing of the product under assessment has confirmed the
product contains no wood. |
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3.2.1.3 Air Emissions
Products made from wood and other natural products that contain
formaldehyde based additives, shall be subject to certain air
emission limits for formaldehyde as measured using the Air
Chamber, Desiccator or Perforator test methods. |
A review of the ingredients list
for the LIFE Chair and an on-site inspection at the
manufacturing of the product under assessment has confirmed the
product contains no wood. |
3.2.2 Plastics
3.2.2.1 Resin Identification Codes
To be licensed to carry the Label, appropriate plastics
resin identification code promulgated by the Plastics and
Chemical Industry Association must be marked on each individual
recycled plastic products or components weighing greater than
100g. |
The Life chairs are equipped with
the required resin codes. An inspection of the manufacturing
plant in New Zealand has revealed the appropriate resin coding
for the manufacturing of the LIFE Chair. The Australian site
assessment for the assembly plant also confirmed that suitable
resin identification codes were present on parts pertinent to
this criterion. |
3.2.3 Padding material
3.2.3.1 Synthetic latex and natural latex requirements
Latex containing 1.3 butadiene shall be at levels < 1mg/kg
latex. The total amount of discharges (measured as COD or TOC)
from the production of foam rubber shall be treated and
decreased by 90% in on-site or external sewage treatment works
prior to emissions into waterways. |
An inspection of the manufacturing
plant in New Zealand and a review of the ingredients list and
MSDS's have revealed that the LIFE chairs contain no latex. Good
Environmental Choice NZ has also verified this from an on- site
audit. |
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3.2.3.2 Polyurethane padding
requirements Additives 1. CFC, HCFC, HFC or Methylene
Chloride shall not be used as blowing agents. 2. Analine based
amines, and pigments and catalysis based on mercury, lead,
cadmium, and chromium must not be added to the padding material.
3. Where organic tin catalysts are used in the production of
flexible polyurethane, the manufacturer must have in place a
contract with a licensed or registered hazardous waste disposal
company who is responsible for the correct disposal of the
hazardous waste. |
An inspection of the Manufacturing
Plant in New Zealand and supplied documentation has revealed
that no CFC's or HCFC's are used in the blowing agents for the
production of Polyurethane foam. An email to Formway has stated
that the blowing agent contains water and no CFC's or HCFC's for
HR-777 polyol premix. MSDS's for the water blowing agent were
supplied to Good Environmental Choice New Zealand during a site
assessment of the manufacturing plant. |
3.2.4 Fabrics
Fabrics must be certified by the Good Environmental Choice
Label, the EU Flower label or the Nordic Swan label or satisfy
the requirements of the GECA Standard No - 19: Textiles. |
The products under assessment
contain a number of different fabrics as determined by the
designer's specification. The application for the nominated
product range is for white furniture. GECA requires that the
applicant does have the capacity to supply suitable GECA or
related certified fabrics.
An assessment by Environmental
Choice New Zealand in the primary manufacturing plant found that
the fabric used was Metropolis fabrics which have GECA
certification.
These products will be
certified as white furniture and therefore the textile
requirements will not need to be satisfied. The applicant should
note that the nominated product lines will be required to have
certified textile in order to comply to the full point score
available under the Green Star Rating tool in Australia. |
3.2.5 Glass
Lead glazing, crystal glass, mirror glass, wire reinforced
glass and/or laminated glass must not be used in the furniture
or fittings. |
The only glass used in the LIFE
Chair is the manufacturing of the plastic seating, where glass
is melted with the plastic and molded to create a hard seating.
However, discussions with Formway and a site assessment by GECS
revealed that no glass is used for the purpose mentioned in this
criterion. |
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3.2.6 Adhesives Adhesives
must be certified by the Good Environmental Choice Label, the EU
Flower label the New Zealand Environmental Choice Label or the
Nordic Swan label or satisfy the requirements of the GECA
Standard No - 1: Adhesives. |
The product under assessment
substituted from solvent based adhesives to water based adhesive
during the course of the verification process. The chemical
constituents of this adhesive have been reviewed and are
compliant to the requirements of GECA Standard No 1 - Adhesives.
The date of the substitution
was the 1st of July 2008 and evidence of previous trails have
been provided as well as confirmation of substitution. |
3.3 Hazardous Materials
3.3.1 Overall Loads
In order to promote the reduction of pollutant hazards in
the disposal, landfill and/or incineration of end of life
furniture, the following substances shall not be added to eco-labeled
furniture during the production process: Arsenic Cadmium
Chromium Copper Lead Mercury Fluorine Chlorine Pentachlorophenol
(PCP) Tar oils (benzo(a)pyrene) |
The material constituents of the
chair are primarily plastic, metal and foam. There is a small
amount of additional ingredients which have been individually
assessed by both GECS at the Australian assembly site and by
Environmental Choice NZ at the Wellington, New Zealand primary
manufacturing facility. The inspection of materials has
confirmed compliance to this criterion. GECS has received
additional evidence in the context of a material breakdown as
well as a signed declaration from the manufacturer establishing
compliance to this criterion. |
3.3.2 Chemical Additives
Furniture or fittings shall not contain carcinogenic
substances in categories 1, 2A as classed by the International
Agency for Research on Cancer - http://www.
iarc.fr. |
The material constituents of the
chair are primarily plastic, metal and foam. There is a small
amount of additional ingredients which have been individually
assessed by both GECS at the Australian assembly site and by
Environmental Choice NZ at the Wellington, New Zealand primary
manufacturing facility. The inspection of materials has
confirmed compliance to this criterion. GECS has received
additional evidence in the context of a material breakdown as
well as a signed declaration from the manufacturer establishing
compliance to this criterion. |
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3.3.3 Prohibited Substances
Halogenated organic binding agents, analine based amines,
phalates, aziridine or polyaziridines as well as pigments and
additives that contain lead, tin, cadmium VI, mercury or their
compounds shall not: a) be added to individual furniture or
fittings parts, b) used in the manufacture of timber furniture
and fittings, or c) used in the manufacture of preparatory
agents or agents for the degreasing or surface treatments of
furniture and fittings or their components. |
The material constituents of the
chair are primarily plastic, metal and foam. There is a small
amount of additional ingredients which have been individually
assessed by both GECS at the Australian assembly site and by
Environmental Choice NZ at the Wellington, New Zealand primary
manufacturing facility. The inspection of materials has
confirmed compliance to this criterion. GECS has received
additional evidence in the context of a material breakdown as
well as a signed declaration from the manufacturer establishing
compliance to this criterion. |
3.4.1 Separability
The eco-labeled product shall be easily disassembled making
possible the recovery and recycling of materials used.
In order to facilitate
recycling of the materials used in products, the following
materials have to be easily separated:
- Aluminium, if it composes >= 5% by weight of the
eco-labelled product;
- Steel, if it composes >= 10% by weight of the eco-labelled
product;
- Glass, if it composes >= 10% by weight of the eco-labelled
product;
- Plastic, if it composes >= 20% by weight of the
eco-labelled product. |
There does not seem to be any
technical barrier to the disassembly of the Products under
assessment for further recovery and recycling. The product under
assessment is designed for ease of disassembly.
A site visit by Environmental
Choice NZ and GECS has revealed that the LIFE Chair is designed
to be dissembled and that the design information indicates that
the primary materials of relevance to this criterion are plastic
and metal. |
3.4.2 Product Custodianship
The applicant shall accept their product without additional
cost (not including transportation costs) for further recycling,
or have arrangements with an Australian plastics or steel
recycler to accept the product, or have an established product
stewardship program. |
Formway Furniture has supplied
GECS with information of a Product Stewardship program.
Environmental Choice NZ has also confirmed suitable Product
Stewardship policies in New Zealand.
In the case of material reuse
it includes the delivery of all Formway product covered by this
contract to a site of Formways specification for refurbishment,
or the direct delivery to a new client as is.
In the case of recycling and
the removal of waste materials from the client's site of all
Formway product covered by this contract.This concludes the
separation of the recyclable materials, the responsible disposal
of all items that cannot be reused or recycled.
It is solely Formway's
discretion to decide if the products can be re-used or recycled,
dependant on but not limited tothe potential customer(s). This
is for the product at the end of the nominated consumer usable
life and condition of the furniture and/or other economic
factors. |
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3.4.3 Coatings/Treatments
Furniture and fittings products (or components) must not be
impregnated, labelled, coated or otherwise treated in a manner
which would prevent post consumer recycling. Exemption may be
made for products with a long product life where a coating or
treatment would further extend the useful life of the product. |
A site assessment performed by
Good Environmental Choice New Zealand has indicated in their
report supplied to GECA that no powder coating, chrome plating
or surface treatment is used in the manufacturing of the LIFE
Chair. |
3.5 Replacement Parts
For those parts of a product which are subject to wear, e.g.
hinges, locks, table leaves, functionally compatible
replacements shall be guaranteed for a period of at least five
years. |
The warranty as mentioned in 3.1
Fitness for Purpose is for a period of 10 years and incorporates
a replacement part policy with the product. |
3.6 Recycled furniture
Recycled furniture can be licensed in conformation to this
standard providing that the furniture has not been refinished or
coated with any materials except for the purpose of cleaning. |
Formway Furniture products under
assessment contain no recycled products. |
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