Bleaching method
When bleaching chemical pulp, chlorine compounds (AOX) may be formed and released in the production facility's wastewater. The criteria include type of bleaching method as well as chlorine compound value.
Details
- Type:
- Award criteria
- ID:
- 11403
- Group:
- Tissue paper
- Swedish:
Criterion text
To be awarded [points or price deduction] in the evaluation of the bid, the supplier shall confirm, in the bid, that the AOX emissions of the individual pulps included is ≤ 0.05 kg/ADt1.
1ADt = air dry tonne of pulp expressed as 90 % dryness
Verification
The supplier shall, upon request, be able to present any of for example the following:
- The supplier’s self-declaration including one of the following alternatives:
- certificate that TCF pulp was used
- calculation in accordance with EU Ecolabel's criterion 1b for tissue paper and tissue products ((EU) 2019/70) which shows that the requirement is met
- The supplier’s self-declaration, including technical documentation of compliance, shall be verified by an accredited verification body that is accredited for the task in accordance with ISO/IEC 17029 or equivalent standard.
Proposed follow-up
Self-declaration and certificate
If the requirement has been verified with a self-declaration and a certificate that TCF pulp was used, check if the certificate is still valid
Self-declaration and calculation
If the requirement has been verified with a self-declaration and calculation, request a current calculation from the supplier.
Self-declaration verified by an accredited verification body
If a verified self-declaration is used to prove that the requirement is fulfilled, request the supplier’s self-declaration, including documentation showing that the requirement is met. The self-declaration shall be verified by a verification body accredited for the task in accordance with ISO / IEC 17029 or equivalent standard.
Information about the criterion
There are currently a limited number of accredited verification bodies for ISO/IEC 17029 (Conformity assessment - General principles and requirements for validation and verification bodies) as it is a relatively new standard. This may change, especially if the demand for verifying compliance in this way increases. More information about the standard and accredited verification bodies can be found on Swedac's website.
Environmental goals
Motive
The amount of chlorine compounds are measured and expressed as AOX (Adsorbable Organic Halogens). Many chlorine compounds are difficult to degrade, are fat-soluble and stored in the fatty tissues of organisms and passed upward in the food chain. As such, they are associated with serious health and environmental effects.
Modern bleaching methods for paper pulp are the TCF (Totally Chlorine Free) and ECF (Elemental Chlorine Free) methods. TCF means that the pulp is bleached completely without chlorine, therefore this bleaching method does not give AOX emissions. ECF means that the pulp is bleached with chlorine dioxide. This bleaching method produces AOX emissions, but significantly lower emissions than chlorine gas bleaching.
Chlorine is no longer used for pulp bleaching within the EU. However, since chlorine bleaching may be used in other places in the world, it is important to set this requirement.
Emissions of AOX can be stated either as emissions from each individual pulp used for production of printing and copying paper or as a weighted average of the total pulp emissions used for production of printing and copying paper. In this criterion, requirements are set for emissions from each individual mass.
Versions history
The version date indicates when the sustainability criterion was created or last updated. Last reviewed dated tells when we last checked that the sustainability criterion still is relevant.
- Current ID
- 11403
- Version date
- 2019-10-30
- Review date
- 2024-07-01
2019-10-30, KravID 11403: Core criterion sharpened in accordance with EU Ecolabel.
2011-09-15, Krav ID 10143: Original version