Tarkett pioneers the Material and Product Passport concept with the Material Health Statement
Tarkett, a worldwide leader of innovative flooring and sports surface solutions, has launched an independently verified (by the Environmental Protection Encouragement Agency - EPEA), science-based declaration highlighting the health hazards and risks of materials in a particular product, down to 100 ppm (0,01 %). By introducing this Material Health Statement (MHS), Tarkett completes the environmental data provided by the Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) and complements its indicators.
EPDs are developed based on a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), according to a standardised framework and process for development, verification and communication. The data provided in EPDs is not easy for non-experts to evaluate. Additionally, EPDs do not reveal any qualitative detail about the current health risks and impacts of materials in the final product while it is in use. The complexity and uncertainties surrounding health impact related data limits the potential of EPDs to address this aspect.
MHSs provide detailed information regarding hazards and an assessment of material risks, helping to bridge the gap and deliver information that can be missing from EPDs, thus improving available data for circularity in buildings.
The process for inventorying, screening, evaluating hazards and risks of materials used in products and optimising formulations is described in Tarkett's position paper.
Tarkett
- aims at transparent value chains in the context of a non-toxic environment, fit for a circular economy, to secure healthy materials flows addressing resource scarcity, environment and people health protection.
- is supporting the regulatory development of product and material passports in view of the revision of the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation.
- calls for the extension of the principle and early adoption of the digital product passport for Construction products, while the Construction product regulation is being revised.
- joined the Product circularity data sheet (PCDS) research project led by Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST), which was turned into an ISO TC 323 standard framework project.