Environmental Requirements

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 manufacturing facility is certified to ISO 9001, with Quality Assurance procedures in place. The products come with a 20 year warranty for residential applications and 10 years for commercial applications.
The products under assessment have undergone various independent testing to demonstrate fitness for purpose, including CSIRO testing for strand woven bamboo. Style Limited provided test certificates and reports as evidence of compliance to the requirements of this criterion.
 

3.2 Material Selection Requirements:
The wood must not be obtained from controversial sources; and, the wood must not be treated with fungicides and insecticides that are classified due to their hazardous nature by the IARC as Type 1a and Type 1b as hazardous for storage and/or transportation.
 

Moso bamboo naturally regenerates from the stems of previously harvested bamboo plants. The bamboo is derived from China and is selectively harvested. The harvesting process is simple and effective, and the plantations are well maintained and regulated. GECS reviewed a report from the Bamboo Institute detailing the harvesting process and the preferability of bamboo to wood due to its natural regenerative properties.

The harvesting and manufacturing process was verified by GECS during site assessment and was found to be satisfactory. Finally, the bamboo is treated before it leaves China as a requirement of Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS). The treatment process was found to be acceptable by GECS under the requirements of this Floor Coverings Standard.
 

3.3 Hazardous Substances

3.3.1 The floor covering must not contain more than 0.1% by weight (in total) of substances that are classified under the National Industrial Chemicals Notification and Assessment Scheme (NICNAS) as:

6.1 acutely toxic
6.6 known or suspected human mutagens
6.7 known or suspected human carcinogens
6.8 known or suspected human reproductive or developmental toxicants
 

In addition to bamboo, adhesives and coating finishes are used to create the product. Most of these substances are classified as non-toxic and where toxicity was identified the weight of substance in the final product was below the 0.1% requirement of our standards, following a review of MSDS for all production ingredients. The ingredients used for the Style Limited products are considered environmentally preferable.

3.3.2 The floor covering must not contain more than 1% by weight (in total) of substances in the surface treatment of the flooring product or in materials that have direct expose to users of the product, that are classified under the National Industrial Chemicals Notification and Assessment Scheme (NICNAS) as:

6.3 skin irritants
6.5 respiratory and contact sensitizers
 

All some substances classified as skin irritants or respiratory and contact sensitizers by NICNAS were identified, the weight of these substances in the final product was below the 0.1% requirement of our standards. This was determined after reviewing MSDS sheets for all production ingredients.

3.3.3 The following substances must not be actively added to the floor covering during manufacturing:

- Short-chained Chlorinated paraffin’s of carbon atom length 10-13 atoms
- Brominated paraffin’s
- Organic tin compounds
- Phthalates
- Polybrominated diphenyl ethers.
 

None of these substances are actively added to the floor coverings during manufacturing. This has been verified after a review of MSDS sheets for all production ingredients.

3.3.4 Products that contain the following substances must not actively be added to the floor covering during manufacturing:

- Cadmium (Cd)
- Lead (Pb)
- Mercury (Hg).
 

Cadmium, Lead and Mercury are not actively added to the products under assessment

3.3.5 Azo-based dyes that shed carcinogenic aryl amines must not be used.

No Azo-based dyes are used in the production process. Style Limited meets the requirements of this criterion.

3.4 Formaldehyde content and formaldehyde emitting additives

Floors containing additives with formaldehyde content or formaldehyde-emitting substances must fulfill one of the following requirements (either a, or b):

a) Control of formaldehyde from the finished floor.

Formaldehyde emissions from the finished product (i.e. the floor covering) must be less than 0.13 mg/m3 in air.

b) Control of formaldehyde during the production of panels for the floor.
 

Formaldehyde test emissions from a sample product were extremely low and in conformance to the requirements of this criterion. This has been verified via review of Formaldehyde MSDS and emission test results.

3.6 Product Information

The floor covering products must be accompanied by information for product suppliers, installers and consumers on the preparation, installation, and maintenance.
 

An inspection of information material supplied by Style Limited establishes full compliance with the requirements of this criterion. This information is available to customers upon purchase.