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  3. Office and hobby supplies 057

Office and hobby supplies 057

Nordic Swan Ecolabel office and hobby supplies have a reduced environmental and climate impact throughout their lifecycle – and strict requirements for recycled materials, chemicals and quality, which promote circular economy.

The requirements include:

  • Environmental and health properties of substances used in chemical products such as paint, glue and ink. E.g. substances classified to cause cancer, damage genes or damage reproductive ability are not allowed, as well as heavy metals, perfumes, phthalates and bisphenols.
  • Use of a high proportion of recycled or renewable materials.
  • Limits for use of metal parts.
  • Use of wood that is legally harvested and traceable – and at least 70% is sourced from certified forestry.
  • The packaging has a high proportion of recycled or renewable materials.
  • Quality tests.

Nordic Swan Ecolabel office and hobby supplies include writing instruments, hobby paints (e.g. finger paints), office and hobby glue, adhesive tape, erasers and rulers.

    1. Start your application process by reading the criteria document and find out if your product can obtain the Nordic Swan Ecolabel. 
    2. Read your Application Guide.
    3. Request login credentials.
    4. Now you are ready to enter the Nordic Ecolabelling Portal.

     

    Portal sign in                               Get login credentials

     

    Should you wish to transfer your licence, please use this form. 

  • The criteria document for office and hobby supplies is an overall document for the commodity groups:
     

    • Hobby paint and decoration materials
    • Tape, glue, correction tape, etc.
    • Writing instruments and erasers
       

    Fees are charged per commodity group according to the price list below.

    Valid from 1/1 2025

    Amount excluding VAT

    Application fees

    		  
    Application for a new licence 3 348 EUR
    Application for renewal 1 673 EUR

    Annual licence fee

    The licence fee for the Nordic Swan Ecolabelled products is based on their turnover in the Nordic region.

    Up to 30.9 million EUR. 0,3% of the products' turnover
    More than 30.9 million EUR. 0,05% of the products' turnover
    Minimum fee in the Nordic region 2 232 EUR per year.
    Fixed fee applicable to turnover outside the Nordic region 2 232 EUR per year for turnover exceeding 300 000 EUR.

    Fee for extension / change of licence

    Fixed fee that is charged depending on how long the work takes.

    Up to 4 hours 418 EUR
    4-8 hours 836 EUR
    8 or more hours 1 673 EUR

    Fee for on-site inspections

    One on-site visit within the Nordic region is included in the application for a new or renewed licence.

    Additional on-site inspection within the Nordic region 557 EUR per visit
    On-site inspection outside the Nordic region, but within Europe 1 673 EUR per visit
    On-site inspection outside Europe 2 790 EUR per visit
    Additional fee for on-site inspections lasting longer than one day 1 115 EUR per day

     

  • In the criteria document, you can read about how to document and verify compliance for each requirement. You can also find other application documents here.

  • Information on the latest version of the criteria for office and hobby supplies

    5.0: New criteria generation

    Nordic Ecolabelling adopted version 5.0 of the criteria for Nordic Swan Ecolabelling of Office and hobby supplies on 26 August 2024. The criteria are valid until 30 September 2029.

    4.16 ⇛ 4.17: Prolongation of the validity of the criteria

    The validity of the criteria has been prolonged with 6 months. The new version is called 4.17 and is valid until 31 December 2025.

    4.15 ⇛ 4.16: Adjustment of the criteria

    Clarification in requirement O23 that the test for 1,3-butadiene only applies to synthetic latex. 

    The new version is called 4.16 and is valid until 30 June 2025.

    4.14 ⇛ 4.15: Adjustment of the criteria

    Requirement O7 has been adjusted regarding exemption for titanium dioxide (TiO2): from 1 June 2023 the exemption does not apply to the following products for children: chalk, crayons, colour pencils and hobby paints.

    The new version is called 4.15 and is valid until 30 June 2025.

    4.13 ⇛ 4.14: Prolongation of the validity of the criteria

    The validity of the criteria has been prolonged with 12 months. The new version is called 4.14 and is valid until 30 June 2025.

    4.12 ⇛ 4.13: Adjustment of the criteria

    Requirement O7 has been adjusted for exemptions for preservatives and a new exemption for acute tox 4. In addition, requirement O14 has been adjusted for permitted amounts and classifications and specific requirements for isothiazolinones have been deleted. The new version is 4.13.

    4.11 ⇛ 4.12: Adjustment and prolongation of the validity of the criteria

    Requirements O7 and O21 have been adjusted. In addition, the validity of the criteria has been extended by 18 months. The new version, 4.12, is valid until 30 June 2024.

    4.10 ⇛ 4.11: Adjustment of criteria

    Requirements O7 and O14 have been adjusted regarding an exemption for ethylhexylglycerine as a preservative aid. The new version, 4.11, is valid until 31 December 2022.

    4.9 ⇛ 4.10: Adjustment of criteria

    Requirement O14 has once again been adjusted regarding an exception for up to 10000 ppm phenoxyethanol. The validity of the criteria document is until 31 December 2022. The new criteria version is called 4.10.

    4.8 ⇛ 4.9: Adjustment of criteria

    Requirement O14 has been altered regarding an exception for up to 1000 ppm phenoxyethanol. The validity of the criteria document is until 31 December 2022. The new criteria version is called 4.9.

    4.7 ⇛ 4.8: Prolongation of criteria

    The criteria have been prolonged with 24 months. The new version is called 4.8 and is valid until 31 December 2022.

    4.5 and 4.6⇛ 4.7: Alteration of criteria

    Requirement O5 has been altered regarding primary packaging and requirement O38 Return systems has been taken away. (Unpubliced version 4.6). Futhermore, requirement O7 has been altered regarding methanol from polyvinyl alcohol. The new version is called 4.7 and is valid until 31 December 2020.

    4.4 ⇛ 4.5: Alteration of criteria

    Nordic Ecolabelling Criteria Group decided on 7 June 2017 to adjust requirement O7 regarding formaldehyde in the binder of hobby paint. The validity of the criteria document is until 31 December 2020. The new criteria version is called 4.5.

    4.3 ⇛ 4.4: Alteration of criteria

    Nordic Ecolabelling Criteria Group decided on 15 May 2017 to impplement Nordic Ecolabelling's new forestry requirements as an alternative to the present forestry requirements. The validity of the criteria document is until 31 December 2020. The new criteria version is called 4.4.

    4.2 ⇛ 4.3: Prolongation of criteria

    Nordic Ecolabelling Criteria Group approved on 7 February 2017 to prolong the validity of the criteria document until 31 December 2020. The new criteria version is called 4.3.

    4.1 ⇛ 4.2: Alteration of criteria

    Adjustments have been made in requirement O6, so that the exclusion of classification with H318/R41 now only applies for products marketed to children, as well as office/hobby paints and crayons. The new version, 4.2, is valid until December 31st 2018.

    4.0 ⇛ 4.1: Alteration of criteria

    • O13: The requirement now contains hazad and r-phrases.
    • O7 & O14: Adjustments have been made in requirements O7 and O14 in relation to the use of other preservation than isothiazolinones.
    • O46: Requirement O46, Marketing, has been removed.

    The new version, 4.1, is valid until December 31st 2018.

  • In the background document below you will find reasoning and facts behind the specific requirements in the criteria document.

    Here you can also read the comments, requirement for requirement, from the public hearing.

    If the documents are in a Nordic language, you can get help in understanding the sections you need by contacting the product specialist in your chosen country below.