Chlorine-free plastic in sports equipment

Product information / product sheet

If the requirement is verified with product information / product sheets, check that chlorinated plastics, such as PVC, are not included in the product.

Analysis report

If the requirement has been verified with analysis reports, perform spot-checks on the analysis reports and check that no chlorinated plastics are included. Also check that the analyses were performed by an accredited laboratory.

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.

This requirement is formulated as an award criterion. Suppliers whose tender meet the criterion are rewarded by added value in the tender evaluation, but do not exclude suppliers who do not from proceeding in the tender evaluation.

For the tender to meet the criterion, the entire requested assortment of sports equipment shall be free of halogenated plastic. The scope of the assortment and how the sports equipment are specified in the procurement affect the possibility of offering a halogen-free assortment.

One example of halogenated plastic used in sports equipment is polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Halogenated plastics are used in sports equipment such as balls and yoga mats/exercise mats.

If you want to completely exclude chlorinated plastics in sports equipment, you can choose to set the requirement as a technical specification instead of an award criterion. The requirement is then formulated: "Sports equipment shall not contain chlorinated plastic." To set the requirement as technical specification, the contracting organization must first review its article specification and ensure that there are no products for which alternatives to chlorinated plastic, such as PVC, are lacking on the market. For products where there is no alternative to chlorinated plastic, the contracting organization can either request products from other materials or make exceptions for these products from the requirement. A market analysis can contribute to knowledge about which products may have difficulty meeting the requirement. Examples of such products are balls.

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.

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.