COMMISSION DECISION
of 12 July 2012
establishing the ecological criteria for the award of the EU Ecolabel for newsprint paper
(notified under document C(2012) 4693)
(Text with EEA relevance)
(2012/448/EU)
THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
Having regard to Regulation (EC) No 66/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2009 on the EU Ecolabel (1), and in particular Article 8(2) thereof,
After consulting the European Union Eco-labelling Board,
Whereas:
(1)
Under Regulation (EC) No 66/2010, the EU Ecolabel may be awarded to those products with a reduced environmental impact during their entire life cycle.
(2)
Regulation (EC) No 66/2010 provides that specific EU Ecolabel criteria are to be established according to product groups.
(3)
Since the production of newsprint paper consumes significant amounts of energy, wood and chemicals, and may lead to environmental damage or risks related to the use of the natural resources, it is appropriate to establish EU Ecolabel criteria for the product group ‘newsprint paper’.
(4)
The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee established by Article 16 of Regulation (EC) No 66/2010,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:
Article 1
1. The product group ‘newsprint paper’ shall comprise paper made from pulp and used for printing newspapers and other printed products.
2. The product group ‘Newsprint paper’ shall not include copying and graphic paper, thermally sensitive paper, photographic and carbonless paper, packaging and wrapping paper as well as fragranced paper.
Article 2
For the purpose of this Decision, the following definitions shall apply:
(1)
‘newsprint paper’ means paper mainly used for printing newspapers and made from pulp and/or recovered paper the weight of which ranges between 40 and 65 g/m2;
(2)
‘recovered fibres’ means fibres diverted from the waste stream during a manufacturing process or generated by households or by commercial, industrial and institutional facilities in their role as end-users of the product which can no longer be used for their intended purpose.
Article 3
In order to be awarded the EU Ecolabel under Regulation (EC) No 66/2010, an item of newsprint paper shall fall within the product group ‘Newsprint paper’ as defined in Article 1 of this Decision and shall comply with the criteria as well as the related assessment and verification requirements set out in the Annex to this Decision.
Article 4
The criteria for the product group ‘Newsprint paper’, as well as the related assessment and verification requirements, shall be valid for three years from the date of adoption of this Decision.
Article 5
For administrative purposes the code number assigned to ‘Newsprint paper’ shall be ‘037’.
Article 6
This Decision is addressed to the Member States.
Done at Brussels, 12 July 2012.