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Environmental Requirements |
Core Environmental Performance Characteristics |
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Fitness for Purpose
Certified products should be good performers in their intended
application. Certain standards of product performance are
implicit in the label.
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The Easyvj, Easyregency,
Easyascot and Easyline products are all manufactured from 9mm
MDF MR Board supplied by Laminex. The differences between the
products are essentially the surface texture finishes applied.
The Laminex products have been investigated for compliance to
these criteria by GECS as part of assessment for licence
LA-2005, extensive finesse for propose information was reviewed
and the products have been found complaint to the requirements
of this criterion. The Easycraft products are warranted for a
period of five years. |
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Material Selection
Requirements for Timber
The geographical origin of pre-consumer recycled and virgin
fibre material must be documented, allowing confirmation of
origin throughout the supply chain.
Please refer to the GECA 04-2007 – Panel Board Standard for
further information.
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Easycraft sources a 100% of its
timber for the products subject of this EPD from Laminex. The
Boards used to make the finished products is Laminex MDF MR.
This timber panel range is already certified by GECA under
licence LA-2005, and therefore compliant with this criterion. |
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Salvaged and Reclaimed Timbers
Salvaged and reclaimed timbers must be certified by the Good
Environmental Choice Label or satisfy the requirements of the
GECA Standard No. 32 - Recycled and Reclaimed Timber.
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The board used for Easycraft is
100% MDF MR from Laminex. This timber panel range is already
certified by GECA under licence LA-2005, and therefore compliant
with this criterion. |
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Treatment
Wood and natural materials used in panel board products must not
be treated or impregnated with fungicides and insecticides that
are classified due to their hazardous nature by the IARC as Type
1 or 2a.
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The board used for
Easycraft is 100% MDF MR from Laminex. This timber panel range
is already certified by GECA under licence LA-2005, and
therefore compliant with this criterion. |
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Glues in Plywood and Other
Engineered Wood Products
The content of free formaldehyde in glues for plywood, other
engineered wood products or other natural material panels or
products must not exceed 1.0 % w/w.
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The board used for
Easycraft is 100% MDF MR from Laminex. This timber panel range
is already certified by GECA under licence LA-2005, and
therefore compliant with this criterion. |
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Emissions Requirements
Products made from wood and other natural products that contain
formaldehyde-based additives, shall be subject to the following
air emission limits for formaldehyde as measured using the
following standard test methods. Raw timber and natural
materials are exempt from this criterion. (Please refer to the
GECA 04-2007 – Panel Board Standard for further information on
criterion 3.1.2.5 Emission Requirements).
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The board used for
Easycraft is 100% MDF MR from Laminex. This timber panel range
is already certified by GECA under licence LA-2005, and
therefore compliant with this criterion. |
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Paper Processing
Paper must not be bleached with any compounds containing or
giving rise to elemental chlorine during the manufacturing
process. This includes the in-situ generation of chlorine from
chloride.
Where surfactants are used in the paper manufacturing process,
these surfactants must be readily biodegradable in accordance
with the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development
(OECD) guidelines for the testing of chemicals.
Exceptions may be made for laminating paper.
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Easycraft do not incorporate
paper in the manufacturing of the products apart for laminating
paper which is applied by Laminex and was included in the GECA
assessment of the Laminex Products and therefore compliant with
the requirements of this criterion. |
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Resin Identification Codes
Certified products must mark each individual plastic product or
component weighing greater than 100g with an appropriate resin
identification code promulgated by the Plastics and Chemical
Industry Association.
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The only plastic component of the
nominated Easycraft products is a thin strip that binds the
boards together, due to the size and nature of this component it
is impractical to apply a resin code to this component.
Easycraft have published information regarding the plastic used
in this strip on the companies’ web site.
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Additives
Please refer to the GECA 04-2007 – Panel Board Standard for
further information on criterion 3.1.3.2 Additives.
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A review of MSDS for primer, polypropylene and
recommended adhesives by GECS finds none of the substances
listed in this criterion to be used in the manufacturing of the
products under assessment. Section c and d of this criterion are
not applicable to the Easycraft products. |
Fabrics
All fabric must be certified by, or satisfy the requirements of,
the Good Environmental Choice Label or carry another ISO 14 024
based ecolabel acceptable to GECA.
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The Easycraft Australia products do not contain
any fabrics; this criterion is therefore not applicable. |
Glass
Lead glazing, crystal glass, mirror glass, wire reinforced glass
or laminated glass must not be used in panel boards. Colouring
agents or other additives containing lead, cadmium, mercury,
chromium, arsenic or selenium must not be used.
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The Easycraft Australia products do not contain
any glass; this criterion is therefore not applicable. |
Rubber
All rubber used in certified panel boards shall satisfy the
materials requirements of GECA Standard 03 – Recycled Rubber
Products.
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The Easycraft Australia products do not contain
any rubber; this criterion is therefore not applicable. |
Metals and Alloys
Coatings applied to metals or alloys must not contain cadmium,
nickel, tin or chromium.
Please refer to the GECA 04-2007 – Panel Board Standard for
further information on criterion 3.1.7 Metals and Alloys.
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The Easycraft Australia products do not contain
any metal or alloy coatings; this criterion is therefore not
applicable. |
Gypsum
Gypsum plasterboard shall not be formulated or manufactured with
phosphogypsum.
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The Easycraft Australia products do not contain
any gypsum; this criterion is therefore not applicable. |
Adhesives
Adhesives or other treatments used in the manufacture of
certified products or packaging must be certified by, or satisfy
the requirements of, the Good Environmental Choice Label or
carry another ISO 14 024 based ecolabel acceptable to GECA.
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Two adhesives are recommended for use during
installation, the Powerstick by Powers Fasteners is certified by
GECA under licence POW-2006 and therefore this product is
compliant with the requirements of this criterion.
The Plasterboard stub adhesive by CSR Limited is declared by
James Kirpichnikov to contain less then 5% VOC’s however a
review of MSDS finds no vapor pressure levels are available and
the ingredient list contained solvents at levels higher then 5%.
GECS requests that a test report showing levels of VOC’s is
supplied.
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Coatings and Treatments
No product or component may be impregnated, labelled, coated or
otherwise treated in a manner which would prevent post consumer
recycling. Exemptions may be made for products with a long
product life where a coating or treatment would further extend
the useful life of the product.
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No coating treatment is applied by Easycraft that
would prevent post-consumer recycling. The products under
assessment comply with the requirements of this criterion.
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Hazardous Materials
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-labelled
products during manufacture:
Arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, tin, mercury or
antimony
Elemental fluorine or chlorine
Pentachlorophenol (PCP)
Tar oils (benzo ()pyrene)
Mercury, arsenic, chromium or cadmium contaminant concentration
shall be less than 1 mg/kg.
Lead contaminant concentration shall be less than 10 mg/kg.
Other contaminants mentioned above must be below detection limit
of a suitable ICP-AAS or ICP-MS technique.
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In order to establish compliance with the
requirements of this criterion, GECS reviewed MSDS and product
formulations for all substances used in the manufacturing
process, and found that none of the substances listed in this
criterion are used in the products under assessment. The Laminex
MDF products that comprise much of the Easycraft product are
certified with GECA under licence LA-2005 and comply with the
requirements of this criterion. |
Prohibited Substances
The following compounds, their functional derivatives or in-situ
precursors shall not be added to panel boards or be used at any
stage of the manufacturing process, including as preparatory
agents, cleaners or degreasers in the production facility:
Halogenated organic solvents or binding agents.
Fluoropolymer additives.
Analine based amines.
The phthalates DEHP, DBP, DAP, BBP, DMP, DMT, DEP, DMEP and DIBP.
Aziridine or polyaziridines.
Pigments and additives that contain lead, tin, arsenic, cadmium,
mercury or their compounds.
Polybrominated diphenyl ethers, or short-chain (≤ 13 C)
chlorinated organic flame retardants.
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In order to establish compliance with the
requirements of this criterion, GECS reviewed MSDS and product
formulations for all substances used in the manufacturing
process, and found that none of the substances listed in this
criterion are used in the products under assessment. The Laminex
MDF products that comprise much of the Easycraft product are
certified with GECA under licence LA-2005 and comply with the
requirements of this criterion. |
Possible Radioactive Sources
This criterion applies to panel boards intended for indoor use
that contain greater than 75% by mass:
Granites, pegmatites or gypsum, Slag, clinker, or other waste
from smelting, or Ash from coal or peat.
Please refer to the GECA 04-2007 – Panel Board Standard for
further information on criterion 3.2.3 Possible Radioactive
Sources.
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This criterion is not applicable to the Easycraft
products under assessment as they do not contain Granites,
pegmatite’s or gypsum, Slag, clinker, or other waste from
smelting, or Ash from coal or peat. |
Manufacturing Requirements
Recycled Content Requirements
Certified products containing the following materials shall meet
the minimum resource efficiency requirements:
Aluminium: All aluminium products or parts shall contain at
least 35 % recycled content.
Stainless Steel: Stainless steel comprising greater than 5 % of
the total weight of the product shall contain at least 20 %
recycled content. Stainless steel panels must carry a minimum
warranty of 40 years.
Plastics: Plastics comprising greater than 10 % of the weight of
the product shall contain at least 50 % by weight recycled
content, or at least 50 % by weight polymers based on
non-petrochemical derived polyols.
Gypsum and Other Minerals: Gypsum or other mineral panels
greater than 5 % of the weight of the product must contain a
minimum of 10% recycled content.
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This criterion is not applicable to the Easycraft
product range as they do not contain any of the materials in the
quantities dealt with by this criterion. |
Waste Minimisation
The manufacturer must have effective policies and procedures to
minimise waste, including measures to recycle waste materials
from the production process.
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Very small amounts of saw dust are generated by
Easycraft. Laminex manufacture the bulk of the product and have
extensive waste minimization measures throughout all
manufacturing plants. Both Easycraft and Laminex comply with the
requirements of this criterion. |
Post-consumption Recycling
Product Custodianship
If the product is not recyclable (or separable into recyclable
parts) in mainstream local recycling systems, the manufacturer
shall accept their product without additional cost (excluding
transportation costs) for further recycling, or have
arrangements with a local recycler to accept the product, or
have an established product stewardship program that will divert
the majority of recovered material from landfill. Please refer
to the GECA 04-2007 – Panel Board Standard for further
information on criterion 3.4.1 Product Custodianship
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Easycraft have committed to accepting their
products back at the end of life and have commenced a research
project in collaboration with Laminex. The objective is for
Easycraft to deliver products back to Laminex to be recycled.
Laminex is currently in the development stages of a recycling
program for Australia. GECS anticipates this program will be
operational at the stage where clients are likely to return
product to Easycraft.
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Packaging Requirements
Chlorinated or halogenated plastics must not be used in product
packaging.
Used packaging shall be able to be recycled by local recycling
systems.
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The Easycraft Australia product is packaged in
groups of 40, using MDF to protect the product, and plastic
straps to hold them together. The packaging is re-used and
recycled in compliance with the requirements of this criterion. |
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Product Information
The manufacturer must provide written information to the user
clearly stating:
The intended use of the product.
Instructions for correct storage, installation and use so as to
maximise the product lifetime.
Maintenance instructions, if required. Maintenance instructions
must not specify nor require the use of any chemical or coating
limited by any part of this standard.
Recycling instructions for the product end-of-life.
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A review of product brochure
supplied to GECS confirms compliance to most sections of this
criterion; however, recycling information is currently not
included.
Following the certification of the Easycraft products by GECA
and the completion of the research project and logistics for
implementation of a product custodianship policy, any new
brochures printed must contain a reference to the Laminex
recycling option and the acceptance of the products by Easycraft
at the end of product life. |
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