While purchasing furniture the contracting authority can define environmental criteria that would contribute to the reduction of furniture’s impact on the environment by the more sustainable way of using the necessary materials for furniture manufacture; by using less dangerous substances for human’s health and less using of pollutants; by manufacturing durable and long-lasting furniture.

            Before purchasing new furniture, the possibility to continue to use old furniture should be assessed in the light of possible repairs, refashioning and ‘tuning’. Although the decision is made to purchase new furniture, the possibility to use old furniture for the other organisation should be evaluated. This way the finances are saved and the amount of waste is reduced.

            When purchasing furniture contracting authorities can define environmental characteristics using eco-labels’ specifications (list non exhaustive):

• The criteria for furniture are under development and the criteria for textile used for furniture are under revision of the EU eco-label “Flower” (http://ec.europa.eu/environment/ecolabel/product/index_en.htm);
• The criteria for furniture and fitments of the Nordic eco-label “Swan” (www.svanen.nu/Eng/criteria);
• The criteria for items used in the room (furniture, inside doors, various floorings, etc.) that contain more than 50 % of forest stock of the German eco-label “Blauer Engel” (http://www.blauer-engel.de);
• The criteria for office furniture of the private Swedish eco-label “TCO” (http://tcodevelopment.com);
• The criteria for textile of the eco-label “Oeko-Tex Standard 100” developed by the International Oeko-Tex Association in textile research and control (http://www.oeko-tex.com/OekoTex100_PUBLIC/index.asp).

The process of furniture manufacture includes the extraction and production of the raw materials and the production of furniture itself. Generally, the impact on the environment dominates in the process of the production of the raw materials. Therefore, in order to define environmental criteria for furniture the attention should be paid to the main raw materials, such as timber, wood based panels, plastics, metal, textile, leather, foam, glass, used in the production of furniture.

While determining the environmental criteria for the process of furniture production, you should pay attention for the following aspects having the greatest impact on the environment:

·        It is possible to limit the use of substances that are dangerous, toxic and harmful for human’s health and (aquatic) environment in the production of various furniture’s components. The examples of substances that should be limited according to the classification of hazardous chemicals and preparations that are ascribed as having risk are: R40 (the carcinogenic effect hasn’t been proved yet), R45 (can cause cancer), R46 (harmful to the reproductive system), R49 (can cause cancer when inhaled), R50-53 (very toxic for aquatic environment, can cause long-lasting negative effects on water ecosystems), R60 (can cause infertility), R61 (harmful for embryo), R62 (can cause infertility), R63 (harmful for embryo), etc. More comprehensive requirements can be found in the criteria of the eco-label “Swan”;

·        The furniture should be produced from timber certified by Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) or Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification schemes (PEFC) or timber certified by other equivalent systems. The attention should be paid as well to the used adhesive and other toxic and having impact on the environment components, such as heavy metals, fungicides, formaldehydes, etc. When determining the marginal quantity of the latter components, the contracting authority can use the criteria of the above-mentioned eco-labels. As an example, the permissible emission of formaldehyde is 0,13 mg/m² according to the criteria of the eco-labels “TCO” and “Swan”.

·        Consumption of energy and toxic materials, air pollution with volatile organic compounds are very important in the production of plastics. It is possible to limit the use of certain materials by determining the environmental criteria. Polyvinylchloride (PVC), for example, ensures the flexibility of products. The products are easy to assemble, they don’t require much care, are durable. However, this material creates a lot of health and environmental problems. PVC emits many different toxic and carcinogenic substances, such as phthalates or vinylchloride. Many non-renewable resources (such as petroleum, gas, coal) and much energy are used to produce PVC. Moreover, the utilization of PVC is problematical.

·        The use of energy, the formation of waste, and the emission of components harmful for the environment are also essential in the production of metal. The criteria can be related with the secondary use of metal (especially aluminium), galvanic treatment (the emission of heavy metals into water), and air pollution with volatile organic compounds;

·        At the time of painting, varnishing and using adhesive substances that destroy ozone layer, heavy metals, hazardous substances and waste are emitted. You can require in the technical specifications that the products do not contain azocolourants, which can fragment into particular aromatic amines. The criteria of the eco-label “Swan”, for example, prohibit using azocolourants having carcinogenic substances, lead, cadmium, chromium, mercury, etc.

·        Textile production (even natural fibre production) can also negatively affect the environment. Pesticides can be used for the growth of necessary material which is used for natural fibre production. They pollute water and soil; most of them are toxic or harmful. Therefore, the requirements can be created for the growth of the material, which is used for the production of furniture containing much textile. When choosing furniture, you should pay attention that synthetic fibre (polyamide, acrylics, polyester, nylon, acetate, spandex, melamine, etc.) are produced from oil products. While producing it the environment is being polluted; and after the synthetic fibre becomes waste, it degrades very slowly. Bleaching, dyeing or printing of fabric uses much water and chemicals that can be dangerous both for the environment and human beings. Flame retardants which are often used in production of mattresses, soft furniture, carpets and curtains can negatively affect the environment too. The most often used substances are brominated flame retardants (such as polybrominated diphenyl ethers or PBDE, Hexabromocyclododecane or HBCD, and brominated bisphenols), that do not fragment in the nature and accumulate in the human and animals’ bodies. The volatile organic compounds can be emitted during the textile production;

·        The emission of chrome, azocolourants, and heavy metals should be limited in the production of leather.

Furniture in its usage stage may cause harmful emissions into the air indoors (released from chemicals, such as paints):

·        Binding agents used in composite wood products, such as urea formaldehyde resin (UF), can emit formaldehyde affecting indoor air quality;

·        Materials used in the manufacturing, treatment, installation and final cleaning of fabrics can contain volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and other potentially harmful substances. VOCs may be absorbed by furniture fabrics, which later become secondary sources of VOC emissions.

These furniture features are also important in the phase of waste management.

Durability of the product is very important in the phases of furniture usage and waste management. Therefore, the requirements for the purchased furniture could be related with the following factors:

·        Quality;

·        Durability;

·        The possibility to clean, renew, renovate furniture, since in many cases furniture is disposed because of fade or spots;

·        The possibility to refashion furniture.

In the stage of waste management the possibility to return old furniture to the producer or the seller is very important. Such possibility releases the contracting authority not only from the troubles of waste management, but also reduces the effect on the environment. The final report on the implementation research of the EU furniture eco-label states that such system of waste collection can diminish the effect on the environment by 50 %.

In the phase of waste management the amount of packaging waste can be very important. Waste should be recycled or avoided by using reusable packages. Waste can be reduced also through increasing the lifetime of furniture.