Material Health
Our products are thoroughly analysed as part of Troldtekt's Cradle to Cradle certification. All constituents are defined down to 100 parts per million (ppm) and assessed for their impact on people and the environment.
In practice, our systematic work with Cradle to Cradle means that we possess detailed knowledge of all substances contained in our products, right down to 100 ppm. We therefore know that they do not contain any substances that are harmful to people or the environment. Healthy ingredients are necessary for the products to be reused in biological and technical cycles. And healthy cycles are crucial to realising a circular economy.
Contributing to a healthy indoor climate
The raw materials for the manufacture of Troldtekt cement-bonded wood wool are wood from Danish forests and cement extracted from Danish mineral resources.
Troldtekt cement-bonded wood wool panels contribute to a healthy indoor climate and qualify for the best Danish Indoor Climate Labelling categories. In addition, Troldtekt has achieved an Allergy Friendly Product Award from Allergy UK and an M1 certificate from the Finnish Indoor Air Association, as well as qualifying for the Swedish SundaHus ecolabel.
It is our objective that goods that are resold under our own Troldtekt brand must carry a Material Health Certificate. The certificate documents that the products have been assessed for material health in accordance with the Cradle to Cradle standard. Examples include screws, fittings and touch-up paint.
Progress after switching to new paint mixes
During the spring of 2022, Troldtekt moved up two levels from Silver to Platinum in the Material Health category. This paved the way for Troldtekt's cement-bonded wood wool products to achieve Gold certification, which was retained by the re-certification of Troldtekt's acoustic panels 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 recipes 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 recipe containing other preservatives that are accepted at Cradle to Cradle certified™ at 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 re-apply 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 durable paint recipes that ensure the paint has a sufficiently long shelf-life for us to reuse overspray. This has required product development and extensive testing of the recipes in our production.
Documentation prior to action
As the paint recipes show, we want to further strengthen the health of our materials. However, we are taking a precautionary approach in relation to Cradle to Cradle, the UN Global Compact and the UN’s SDGs. This means that every so often we decide to step back from particular courses of action.
Due to uncertainty regarding documentation, we have, for example, decided not to surface-treat our acoustic panels with titanium dioxide, even though this could potentially contribute to photocatalysis and possibly removing NOx particles from the air. Since material health is crucial to Troldtekt, we do not want to risk applying a treatment to our panels that could be harmful to people or the environment. 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.
In addition to the uncertainty regarding possible health risks, photocatalysis requires a lot of light to activate the titanium dioxide. 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. We sell the Troldtekt ventilation solution, which has a documented effect in the form of lower CO2 levels on the premises. This provides a better learning environment for schoolchildren and a better indoor climate at e.g. offices and conference premises.
FACTS: 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.