Notification of change of criteria
Byggvarubedömningen will change six criteria regarding chemical content and lifecycle aspects.
The changes will be implemented in the following criteria for chemical content: Endocrine disruptors, PBT, vPvB and a new criterion with the classifications PMT and vPvM. The changes will be implemented in the lifecycle criteria Renewable raw materials, Leaching of substances and Recycling.
Criteria for chemical content
As the EU legislation for classification and labelling, CLP, introduced new classifications in April 2023, these will be introduced in the Byggvarubedömningen criteria. These are changes for Endocrine disruptors, PBT, vPvB and new criteria for PMT and vPvM. P means persistent properties, B means bioaccumulative, T means toxic and M means mobile substances that spread far in the environment. The properties will have EUH phrases as hazard statements instead of H phrases, as a result of the EU introducing this ahead of the Global System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS).
Criterion 0.5 Endocrine disruptors
New classifications for Endocrine Disruptors have been introduced in CLP: Endocrine Disruptors for human health category 1 and category 2 and Endocrine Disruptors for the environment category 1 and category 2. These will be introduced as four sub-criteria in the updated criterion. As it will be some time before a large number of substances will receive harmonised classification in CLP, the current criterion will remain. In the current criterion, assessment is based on the substances on the SIN list, the EDS database and the Candidate List due to endocrine disrupting properties. However, the EDS database is no longer relevant and will therefore be removed from the criterion in this update.
The criterion will have five sub-criteria:
a) Endocrine disruptors for human health (EUH380), category 1, concentration limit <0.1%
b) Endocrine disruptors for human health (EUH381), category 2, concentration limit <1%
c) Endocrine disruptors for the environment, category 1 (EUH430), concentration limit <0.1%.
d) Endocrine disruptors for the environment, category 2 (EUH431), concentration limit <1%.
e) Endocrine disruptors on the Candidate List or the SIN list.
Criterion 0.6 PBT, vPvB and potential PBT/vPvB
New classifications for PBT and vPvB have been introduced in CLP. The criterion will be updated with new hazard statements:
Sub-criterion a) PBT is updated with hazard statement EUH440.
Sub-criterion b) vPvB is updated with hazard statement EUH441.
New criterion 0.7 PMT and vPvM
New classifications for PMT and vPvM have been introduced in CLP. These properties are similar to PBT properties but instead of being bioaccumulative, the substances are mobile.
The criterion will have two sub-criteria:
a) PMT (persistent, mobile, toxic substances) (EUH450), concentration limit 0.1%.
b) vPvM (very persistent and very mobile substances) (EUH451), concentration limit 0.1%.
Lifecycle aspects criteria
This notification concerns changes to criteria 1.1 Renewable raw materials, 4.1 Leaching of substances and 5.2 Recycling.
Criterion 1.1 Renewable raw materials
The change aims to update the criterion as it currently includes water as a renewable raw material. Based on descriptions of renewable raw materials, water should not be included. However, water is counted as a renewable resource or energy source. Therefore, the example in the information/footnote about water being included as a renewable raw material will be removed.
Criterion 4.1 Leaching of substances that could have potential impact on water quality
The Leaching criterion aims to reduce the spread of environmentally hazardous substances and the criterion is currently divided into two areas: outdoor products in contact with water (e.g. rain) and plumbing products in contact with water (where substances can escape to the environment through e.g. treatment plants). There has been a need to structure the criterion to make it clearer what an assessment is based on.
The review of the criterion has covered both the structure, the substances that affect the assessment and adding references for substances and product. The references are scientific articles and reports, and we have also used material knowledge based on content information from our BVB database. The criterion in its entirety will be published later this spring.
Information about the changes of the criterion:
· The structure is changed as the criterion is divided into four sub-criteria:
a) Outdoor products that are articles
b) Outdoor products that are chemical products
c) VA/VS (water and plumbing) products that are articles
d) Chemical products for relining (relining means internal renovation of water and sewage pipes)
· Sub-criterion a) - c) can be assessed with the results Recommended, Accepted or To be avoided. Sub-criterion d) can be assessed as Accepted or To be avoided.
· Materials and product groups that can be assessed as To be avoided are referred to in footnotes.
Criterion 5.2 Recycling
The Recycling criterion generally refer to recycling in the demolition phase (end of life). This change in the criteria applies to mineral wool (stone or glass wool) where an exemption from recycling in the demolition phase is applied. The assessment is based on recycling in the construction phase because the mineral wool material generally goes to landfill after demolition. The exemption aims to encourage increased recycling in building and construction projects.
The criteria update means that the exemption is kept but also that it is clarified which products that can reach the assessment result Accepted. The current criterion states that products containing >30% mineral wool may be accepted if there is a recovery system for the mineral wool. This is now changed to a more strict formulation where only products where waste is generated in construction production and where the waste is reasonable to recycle can be accepted.
The wording for mineral wool will be for Accepted: "Mineral wool insulation boards or absorbents where systems for the recovery of installation waste are in place in construction projects.2".
Footnote 2: "This applies to pure stone and glass wool products (without metal content) and absorbents, where waste is generated in construction production."
Date from which the changes apply: 2024-09-02
Assessments that are affected by any criterion change and that have been published before the changes apply, will be reassessed on the relevant criterion in connection with the update.