New criteria for eco-labelled products have been approved by the European Commission.
Mattresses
The product group definition has been extended to the latex and polyurethane foams for use in bed mattresses when they constitute more than five per cent of its weight. The new criteria will be valid until 31 August 2007. The previous criteria (Decision 1998/634/EC) will still be valid until the end of January 2004.
Indoor paints and varnishes
The product group definition has been clarified and extended to floor coatings and paints. Anti-corrosion coatings, anti-fouling coatings, wood preservation products, coatings for particular industrial and professional uses, including heavy-duty coatings and two-pack products, speciality products, including specific stain blockers and high performance penetrating primers and facade coatings are excluded from the definition.
Light bulbs - new criteria are valid until end of August 2006.
The scope of the definition clearly excludes fluorescent lamps with a magnetic ballast, projector lamps, photographic lighting and solarium tubes. The criteria focus on energy efficiency, lifetime and mercury content. In relation to life time performance new requirements on the number of switch on/off cycles for a compact fluorescent lamp and on colour rendering index have been incorporated. A new criterion also restricts the use of certain flame retardants and dangerous or toxic substances in plastic parts heavier than 5 g.
The thresholds on mercury content are now stricter. Double-ended light bulbs shall have a life time of at least 12,500 hours (20,000 in the case of long-life light bulbs) as opposed to 10,000 h. in the previous criteria (Decision 1999/568/EC)
Copying and graphic paper
The scope of the definition has been extended to cover unprinted paper for printing or copying or writing or drawing. The criteria do not apply to newsprint, thermally sensitive paper and carbonless paper. The basis for the matrixes are based on Best Available Techniques (BATs) values, hence only the best products from an environmental point of view will be able to comply with the criteria.
More details are available from the European Commission's ecolabel website at:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/ecolabel/news/news.htm.