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Terms & Definitions

For the purposes of this Guide, the relevant definitions given in lSO/IEC Guide 2 and IS0 8402 apply, together with the following definitions:

Alloy

A combination of two or more metallic elements, especially to give greater strength or resistance to corrosion.

Applicant

The party that is responsible for ensuring that Products meet and, if applicable, continue to meet, the requirements on which the certification is based. An Applicant can be a distributor or manufacturer or assembler.

API

Additional Performance Information (see Section 3.05).

Complying LCA

A life cycle assessment (LCA) in accordance with ISO 14040, ISO 14064 or PAS 2050 including LCADetail sourced LCA as relevant to the product assessment under consideration. A complying LCA may use partial data derived from third party audited sources such as other ecolabels or LCA or life cycle inventory (LCI) etc.

Conformity Assessment Body

A CAB can objectively assess conformity to specified requirements. A CAB can perform conformity assessment activities that include certification, inspection, testing and calibration. The ISO Standard relevant to a CAB such as GreenTag is ISO 17065 and GreenTag is compliant with this standard.

Defined Materials

Materials made up entirely of known Chemical Substances, eg A chemical formulation is a type of homogeneous material prepared according to a defined formula, typically referring to a material in liquid form. A compounded material is a type of homogenous material prepared according to a defined formula, typically referring to a material in solid form. A metal alloy is a combination of two or more metallic substances, especially to give greater strength or resistance to corrosion. Examples for which special conditions on content inventory apply: Metal alloy material; Float glass; Ceramics; Mixed Hardware; Electronics; Reaction Products; Defined substance without identifier.

Direct Responsibility

Fiduciary and legal responsibility for quality, consistency, legal compliance, safety and other issues including reputational risk.

Distributor

A party that buys intermediate or finished products; warehouses and resells them to retailers, end users or other actors in the supply chain but does not add value to the product.

Design for Disassembly

Applies to product streams containing distinct components (e.g. furniture, partitions, storage, etc) and implies products are designed so that components are easily disassembled. The processes which are required in product removal from site and component separation must not involve specialist tools so that a future recycler, Applicant/supplier or another third party, can easily direct the different materials into the appropriate reuse or recycling streams. Flooring product standards may allow for the use of specialist tools to facilitate product component disassembly.

Dose

Refers to the amount of a chemical absorbed into the body from an exposure.

Endocrine Disruptor

Compounds that mimic, block, or interfere with hormone production, and/or metabolism and/or excretion causing malfunction of the endocrine system and creates potential malfunction/s of the reproductive and/or nervous, and/or immune systems.

Environmental Claims

Self-declared Environmental Claims for the Product must be in accordance with Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and ISO 14021 guidelines

Environmental label

A claim which indicates the environmental aspects of a product or service.

Environmental declaration

NOTE An environmental label or declaration may take the form of a statement, symbol or graphic on a product or package label, in product literature, in technical bulletins, in advertising or in publicity, amongst other things.

ESCAP

Ecospecifier Cautionary Assessment Process- as defined in Appendix 1.

Exposure

The actual contact that a person has with a chemical. It can be one-time, short-term, or long-term.

Global GreenTag

The Global GreenTag product assessment program, as described by this Standard and its rules of operation. Described herein as GreenTag.

Green Building Rating Scheme

A points based sustainability performance rating system for buildings operated by either Government Agencies or Non-government organisation such as a Green Building Council, whether it be mandatory or voluntary.

GBCSA

The product assessment program that assesses products compatibility to various Green Building Rating schemes including Green Star™, Green Star SA, Green Star NZ and as relevant to the country of operation of the Global GreenTag operation

Grey Chemicals

For a homogenous material or substance where there is no cas number available or testing is inadequate or no futher information is available or there are research papers indicating potential issues that are not being reflected in GHS yet or other recognised toxicity database, then those materials or substances will be identified as 'Grey Chemicals' and it will trigger specific 'Issue of Concern' and the Product will be limited to GBCSA Level C and/or LCARate Silver.

Heavy Metal

Generally considered including those metals with a specific gravity that is at least 5 times the specific gravity of water. Metals of concern include antimony, arsenic, bismuth, cadmium, cerium, chromium, cobalt, gallium, gold, iron, lead, manganese, mercury, nickel, platinum, silver, tellurium, thallium, tin, uranium, and vanadium

Homogenous Materials

A uniform solid, liquid or gas composed of one or more substances that cannot be mechanically disjointed, in principle. It may be a chemical formulation or compound; of undefined composition (UVCB); or a combination of the two. Coatings and finishes such as plating, powder coats, enamels, etc are considered unique homogenous materials.

Impurities

An unintended constituent present in a material/mixture as manufactured. It may originate from the starting materials or be the result of secondary or incomplete reactions during the manufacture process. While it is present in the final substance, it was not intentionally added, eg Cr VI present in Portland cement.

Intended Reaction Product

The products of any chemical reaction that are an intentional part of the production/formulation process of the material/mixture, eg the polymer resulting from a polymerization reaction during plastic or resin manufacture.

Intentionally Used Substance

Any chemical substance that is used (as an input) in the production of the homogenous material, whether or not it is intended to remain in the manufacturer's finished product, eg Monomers, reagents, catalysts, reactive and non reactive additives, auxiliaries, processing aids and other process chemicals, as well as any other chemical substance that is used in making the product, but may be present in reduced amounts (or not at all) in the finished product because it reacts, gets washed off or similar.

Life cycle

Consecutive and interlinked stages of a product system, from raw material acquisition or generation of natural resources to the final disposal.

Life cycle assessment (LCA)

The assessment of the environmental impact of a given product throughout its lifespan.

Life-cycle inventory (LCI)

Quantifying the energy and raw material inputs and environmental releases associated with each stage of production.

Life Cycle Impact Analysis (LCIA)

Assessing the impacts on human health and the environment associated with energy and raw material inputs and environmental releases quantified by the inventory.

NOAECs

No Observed Adverse Effects Concentration. The highest level of a chemical stressor in a toxicity test that did not cause harmful effect in a plant or animal. While NOAELs and NOAECs are similar, they are not interchangeable. A NOAEC refers to direct exposure to a chemical (e.g. through gills or the skin).

NOAELs

No Observed Adverse Effect Levels for any ill-effects that might occur. Also called NOEL is the highest dose in an investigation that does not cause illeffects. A NOAEL refers to a dose of chemical that is ingested.

Part

A single functional grouping of contents. A part is an optional categorization to identify a portion of a product that is used modularly. A part will still be comprised of one or more components, eg Parts for a chair might include armrests, lift mechanisms and castors.

Primary Derivatives of wood

Products derived from direct processing of timber products from forestry operations & processing of timber into finished wood products. Cellullose derived from wood fibres will not be considered a 'primary derivative' but as a 'secondary derivative'.

Product

A 'Product' is any material/s, product/s comprising of parts, homogenous materials, substances, etc or technology undergoing GreenTag certification. Described herein as Product.

Product Assessor

A 'Product Assessor' (also 'Assessor') is a member of the GreenTag certification team responsible for independent assessment of products to determine their conformance or non-conformance to each applicable criterion of this GreenTag International Standard. They are required to be certified by RABQSA, IRCA or other national or international auditor accreditation system.

Product Stewardship

A product-centred approach to environmental protection implying that operating entities in the product's life cycle (e.g., suppliers, retailers, users) need to share responsibility for reducing its environmental impact. Practically, product stewardship is understood as the Applicant's service to the customer to collect the Product for reuse, recycling or reprocessing whenever the customer no longer requires its service.

Program Director

A 'Program Director' amongst other responsibilities is also liable for decisions relating to its granting, maintaining, extending, suspending and withdrawing of certification; has a role in National Advisory Committee (NAC) and Expert Panel; manages disputes and complaints regarding compliance with the standand.

Post Industrial material

Material diverted from the waste stream during a manufacturing process. Excluded is reutilization of materials such as rework, regrind or scrap generated in a process and capable of being reclaimed within the same process that generated it. Also known as pre-consumer material.

Post Consumer material

Material 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 its intended purpose. This includes returns of material from the distribution chain." For the purposes of the calculation, the term 'product' refers to the final product as delivered to the construction site or end user and incorporated in the works.

Recycled content

The proportion, by mass, of recycled material in a product or packaging. Only pre-consumer and post-consumer materials shall be considered as recycled content, see post-industrial and post-consumer materials definition.

Risk

Risk is summarised as 'Hazard x exposure' a measure of the likelihood or probability of such damage occurring under particular circumstances of exposure

Routes of exposure

Ingestion, inhalation, dermal or conjunctival.

Substance

A substance of fixed composition, characterized by its molecular structure(s), which typically has an associated CAS RN (and may also have synonym CAS RNs).

Sufficiently Biodegradable

Chemical compound biodegradability is determined to be sufficient for the purposes of this standard when:
– if when tested with one of the methods OECD 301 A, OECD 301 E, ISO 7827, OECD 302 A, ISO 9887,OECD 302 B, or ISO 9888 it shows a percentage degradation of at least 70 % within 28 days,
– or if when tested with one of the methods OECD 301 B, ISO 9439, OECD 301 C, OECD 302 C, OECD 301 D, ISO 10707, OECD 301 F, ISO 9408, ISO 10708 or ISO 14593 it shows a percentage degradation of at least 60 % within 28 days,
– or if when tested with one of the methods OECD 303 or ISO 11733 it shows a percentage degradation of at least 80 % within 28 days,
– or, for substances for which these test methods are inapplicable, if evidence of an equivalent level of biodegradation is presented.

Supplier

Any party that is responsible for producing or manufacturing or assembling of intermediate homogenous materials or substances to be used as inputs for the Product. Where a supplier is only a distributor or wholesaler and adds no value to the Product, they will be classified as Distributors.

Tier 1 supplier

Tier 1 supplier is one who is 'Directly Responsible' (see definition) to the Manufacturer or Assembler.

Toxicity

The ability of a chemical to produce adverse effects in living organisms i.e. damage an organ system, to disrupt a biochemical process, or to disturb an enzyme system.

Worst Case Business as Usual

A BAU product is a product that is in common usage, advertised or available within the region and market of concern, with the highest environmental impact as demonstrated by a market and LCA study of products within the same functional category.

Undefinable Materials (UVCBs)

A mixture of Unknown or Variable composition, Complex reaction products or Biological materials, typically with an unrefined nature and/or uncontrolled source, eg mixed aggregate, recycled content, geological material etc.

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