Material Health
As part of Cradle to Cradle Certified, the ingredients in Troldtekt cement-bonded wood wool panels are thoroughly analysed for their impact on people and the environment.
In practice, our systematic work with Cradle to Cradle means that we have detailed knowledge of the ingredients in our products, which are analysed by third parties. We therefore know that they do not contain any substances that are harmful to people or the environment. Non-harmful ingredients are necessary for products to enter biological and technical cycles – making it possible to realise a circular economy.
Contributes to a comfortable indoor climate
The raw materials for the manufacture of Troldtekt cement-bonded wood wool are wood from Danish forests and cement extracted from the Danish subsoil.
Troldtekt cement-bonded wood wool qualifies for the best Danish Indoor Climate Labelling categories. In addition, Troldtekt has received an Allergy Friendly Product Award from Allergy UK and an M1 certificate from the Finnish Indoor Air Association, Finland.
Progress after switching to new paint mixes
In spring 2022, Troldtekt moved up two levels from Silver to Platinum in the Material Health category. This paved the way for Troldtekt cement-bonded wood wool products as a whole to advance to Gold certification, which was reconfirmed when Troldtekt acoustic panels were recertifed in 2023.
However, in 2023, Troldtekt moved down from Platinum to Gold in the Material Health category due to stricter requirements introduced in version 4.0. In other words, the constituents have not changed but the standard has been tightened and Troldtekt has, overall, retained Gold-level certification.
The previous advancement from Silver in the Material Health category was the result of using new paint mixes in our production.
Previously, the preservatives – biocides – used in the paint for the acoustic panels had stood in the way of achieving certification at Gold level. However, through intensive work with our paint supplier, we have succeeded in developing a mix containing other preservatives that are accepted at the Cradle to Cradle Certified Gold level.
Preservatives are necessary to avoid having to discard large quantities of paint due to spoiling and frequent colour changes in production. Since our new paint facility was installed at Troldtekt in 2016, we have collected and recycled excess paint – or ‘overspray’ as it is known – from our spray booths, which has cut paint wastage by 70 per cent. Without preservatives, it would no longer be possible to reapply overspray, because the paint might rot. This would result in additional wastage of roughly 200,000 litres of paint per year.
Following ongoing dialogue with the paint supplier, we have arrived at the new paint mixes, which ensure the paint has a sufficiently long shelf life for us to reuse overspray. This has required product development and extensive testing of the mixes in our production.
Documentation prior to action
As the paint mixes show, we want to further optimise material health. We work with a precautionary approach to Cradle to Cradle Certified, the UN Global Compact and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. This means that we sometimes choose to opt out of particular courses of action in our product development and product range. This will typically happen if there is uncertainty about human and environmental health.
For example, we have opted out of developing and selling products that would require the use of fire retardant chemicals to achieve a sufficiently high fire rating for market demand.
Similarly, we have chosen not to treat our acoustic panels with the substance titanium dioxide, which can contribute to photocatalysis and possibly remove NOx particles from the air. Titanium dioxide is also found, for example, in wall paint, but here the substance is inactive and bound in the dry paint, so it does not pose any health risk.
We have seen examples of ceiling manufacturers treating products with titanium dioxide, but another challenge is that photocatalysis requires daylight. Daylight does not fall on ceilings and the client would therefore have to make significant investments in lighting in order to activate the photocatalysis. Finally, there is plenty of evidence that ventilation and general airing are much better for the indoor climate.
FACTS: The stricter material health requirements
A number of stricter requirements have been introduced in connection with version 4.0 of Cradle to Cradle Certified. This means that Troldtekt was certified at Gold level in 2023, after having advanced from Silver to Platinum in the Material Health category during the previous certification process in 2022.
Examples of the stricter certification requirements for Platinum include:
- that more than 50 per cent of the product (measured by weight) must be assessed at A or B level. In Troldtekt's case, wood and limestone are assessed at this high level, but these raw materials account for less than half of the weight.
- that more than 75 per cent of the raw materials in the product now need to have a C2CPII Material Health Certificate at Gold or Platinum level – or that more than 50 per cent of raw materials are Cradle to Cradle certified at Gold or Platinum level.
- that (as an alternative to the aforementioned point) a hot spot analysis has been carried out for the product value chain and a strategy has been created to further optimise material health.