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This guidance document aims to give an overview of potential hazardous substances that might occur in construction products and when appearing as waste need attention during renovation and demolition activities. Focus in this guideline is on hazardous substances regulated by EU or international agreements or national legislation.

Although the present legislation restricts the use of many hazardous substances in new building products, there is a considerable concern for compounds present in old construction products, since their presence in construction and demolition waste may limit the recyclability of the material and potentially cause waste management problems. One group of substances that has recently received attention are persistent organic pollutants (POP substances) such as e.g. some brominated flame retardants.

Important characteristic of the construction and building products is the relatively long life span. Because of long lifespan the restricted substances will enter the waste stream many decades after a ban has been placed on their use and they can therefore be found in renovation or demolition waste for a long time. Many of these substances provide important functionality in a wide range of products, e.g. flame retardants.

Besides hazardous substances also degradation in composition and quality aspects (e.g. mould) of construction products needs to be considered.

This document is part of the pre-demolition overall guidance document developed in the PARADE project.

Tarkett have introduced an eco-innovation programme with the aim of providing more comfortable, healthy and people-friendly indoor spaces without compromising performance and design experience. Key initiatives include:

• Phthalate free technology in their New Generation Vinyl flooring;
• Low VOC emissions in flooring;
• ReStart Takeback and Recycling Programme, and use of recycled materials in new products.

Buyer’s guide from Havard University for specifying furniture and materials free from flame retardants in university procurement