Greener Workplace Range

Blackwoods has put the Greener Workplace Range together to help customers operate more sustainably. If the product is certified according to independent third party certification, the certification is displayed to help you make your own decisions about whether or not certain products meet your organisation's sustainability goals.

The range of products has been organised into the following categories:

Certified and Non-Certified Products

Some products fall into categories that are able to be certified to international standards, such as paper products with Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification. FSC certification ensures that the wood or paper fibre in the product is from responsibly harvested and verified sources, which are traced from point of forest origin through the supply chain. If the product can be certified, the relevant certification will be displayed next to the product.

In addition to certified products, the range includes products that have environmentally preferable attributes in categories where standards have not yet been developed. Non-certified items include products that reduce energy, waste or water consumption in the workplace.

Eco-labels

Product assessment for the Blackwoods Greener Workplace range involved an assessment of third party eco-labels, which are not all the same. Two types of eco-labels included in the range:

• Eco-labels that certify that products have a lower environmental impact than comparable products with the same function. For example, labels may certify the top 25 percentile of products based on a range of environmental criterion in a particular product category, which are based on ISO 14024 standards.

  Examples of eco-labels in the range that certify top performing products in product categories are:

  

  Good Environmental Choice Australia

  

  Good Environmental Choice New Zealand

  

  Green Seal

  

  Blue Angle

  

  EU Flower

  

  Nordic Swan

• Third party eco-labels that relate to specific environmental impact areas. For example Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification verifies that wood and paper products are from sustainable sources.

  Specific environmental impact eco-labels in the range are:

  

  Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Certification

  

  Programme for the Endorsement for Forest Certification (PEFC)

  

  Greenguard Indoor Air Quality

Products without Eco-Labels

• Product Application

  The Greener Workplace range also includes products that do not have environmental certifications or self-declared claims, but the application of the product can lead to sustainable outcomes. These products include:

  • Solar panels
  • Electricity meters, timers and motion sensors
  • Energy efficient lighting
  • Infrared thermometers
  • Variable speed controllers for pumps
  • Induction heaters
• Recycled Content

  The final category of products is those that contain recycled content. Except where specified by a third party eco-label, we have relied on suppliers' claims in this category.

  Products that include recycled content include:

  • Mops made from recycled content
  • Pens made from recycled content
  • Posted notes made from recycled content
  • Recycling and waste management signs
• Self-declared Environmental Claims

  The sustainability chapter also includes a limited selection of products with manufacturers' self-declared environmental claims that do not have third party certification for:

  • PVC free Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) from Moldex
  • Cleaning solutions for parts washers that are not solvent based

Blackwoods has included the above product categories in the Greener Workplace Range (in the absence of third party certification) as there are no products in their respective categories with third party verification at the time of publication, but based on suppliers claims the products reduce the risk of environmental pollution.

Disclaimer

Blackwoods has reasonably relied on information provided by third parties including products in this range and made reasonable efforts to verify claims with suppliers. Notwithstanding this, it is not possible to audit and verify the accuracy of all information provided by third parties, and Blackwoods takes no responsibility for any inaccurate or misleading information provided by third parties which is reasonably relied upon by Blackwoods. Blackwoods does not, by including products in this range, warrant that the products will have no environmental impact or that the ranged products are necessarily state of the art, or top of their range, in terms of their sustainability attributes. The way in which the products may help users to operate more sustainably is connected only to the sustainability category of the product and the certifications of the product, and no further implications should be drawn as to other attributes (sustainability or otherwise) of that product.