No danger is posed to the users of PVC wallpapers.
At A.S. Création, the safety of the raw material and chemicals used is of paramount importance. No substances are used that are categorised by the EU Commission as posing a danger to health and which are listed in directives, such as REACH. PVC is not on any of these EU lists.
Due to its very good product characteristics, the PVC plastic used by us in the manufacture of wallpaper is also still used in medical products, among other things, for example in blood bags and hoses. This shows that PVC does not present any general risks, including our wallpaper.
To guarantee the manufacture of safe products for our customers, our wallpaper is being constantly inspected in accordance with the provisions of national and international law, as well as with other voluntary standards. The consequent adherence to these standards and laws is regularly confirmed by accredited inspection institutes. With this, A.S. Création provides customers with a product that can also be used in the wall design of sensitive living areas.
For example, there is an inspection by the institute “Gemaco” for the harmlessness of the products. Here it has been proven that our wallpaper even fulfils the standards for children’s toys and baby items (Regulation (EC) No. 1907/2006, Appendix XVII, Article 52).
Organic solvents may be used in the manufacture of particular wallpaper types.
Organic solvents are volatile compounds, which dissolve or dilute other substances (e.g. colours, adhesives) without changing them chemically. There are countless types of organic solvents. Frequently they are hydrocarbons, alcohol and other substance classes, like aldehydes, ketones and esters.
Solvents used in the manufacture of wallpaper are almost completely volatilised in the manufacturing process. Through the regular inspection of our products by independent testing laboratories, we are able to ensure that the legal thresholds for organic solvent are maintained so that no risk arises from our products, for example so-called VOC emissions.
e.g. for the "Natural Living" collection
In a research and development cooperation with a supplier of the company, a special water-based structural coating was developed that can produce the typical properties of compact vinyl wallpapers containing PVC.
It is still a synthetic material. However, this plastic can be used on our machines without the aid of organic solvents and conventional plasticisers.
With this innovation, we aim to further improve the sustainability of our products. In the future, we will continue to work with the same intensity on innovative materials and production techniques.
The fundamental abandonment of plastics is a complex matter and there are both advantages and disadvantages that need to be considered.
An advantage of plastics is their diversity and durability. Plastic-coated wallpaper is particularly impact-resistant, spray water-resistant and wipeable; as a result, it can even be used in wet areas. However, the use of plastics is often linked with environmental problems, such as high energy consumption for manufacturing. Additionally, most plastics today are still manufactured on the basis of fossil crude oil.
There are already alternative materials which can be used, like biologically degradable or biologically-based, non-fossil plastics, as well as materials made from renewable raw materials like timber or bamboo. However, there are currently still some disadvantages that are linked to the use of alternative materials. They frequently exhibit worse technical characteristics than synthetic plastics, and they are also substantially more expensive. The manufacture of some bio-based plastics is also in conflict with food growing land.
We cannot yet assess from today’s perspective whether fundamental abandonment of plastics is worthwhile in the manufacture of wallpaper. In any case, it is worthwhile and important to find alternative materials that are ecologically sustainable and that offer the required technical characteristics. Additionally, the materials need to be economically competitive so that the more sustainable product presents a real option to the purchaser. Studies have shown that more sustainable products do not catch on without these economical framework conditions.
Currently, there is no technical alternative for a synthetic plastic, which fulfils all the aforementioned criteria for use and would enable a conversion.
Yes. In the manufacture of our wallpaper, we use, for example, natural arising chalk as a filler, and our paper and non-woven materials are manufactured exclusively from FSC-certified wood pulp fibres, which come from sustainably cultivated wooded areas.
However, we do not exclusively use natural materials.
Nowadays, there are not yet any natural substances for many of the substances used in the product which would provide the required technical characteristics. Unfortunately, some of the natural materials also bear the disadvantage that they exhibit their own strong colour components. This is problematic for a visually demanding product like wallpaper, as the colours need to fit precisely here. Therefore, it is often not possible nowadays to use many of the natural raw materials in industrial production processes.
The film primarily acts as transportation protection. It protects the goods from damage and contamination. In the trade, the transparent film also protects the integrity of goods, even in the event that customers consider and remove the goods multiple times from the shelves. As a result, the final purchaser will always receive the perfect product.
As the product packaging ends up in the bin, we would like its environmental impact to be as little as possible. For this reason, our shrink wraps are not only 100% recyclable, but also consist of 40% recycled plastic. A higher proportion of the same quality and functionality is currently still hard to achieve. But we’re working with our suppliers to improve it further.
No, wallpaper must be disposed of in general waste.
To be able to provide a colour-intense, structural surface, while simultaneously providing a processable wallpaper, we have to combine plastic (front side) and paper (rear side) with one another. This bond needs to be strong so that the wallpaper is still robust and resilient years later.
This leads to the necessity to dispose of wallpaper in general waste at the end of its life, because both sides cannot be separated without a specialist technique. As wallpaper recycling is currently not possible due to this reason, we aspire to keep our CO2 footprint of the goods as low as possible.
As a manufacturer, we have developed technical options to recycle (our internal) wallpaper waste. In doing so, we have established research projects with local higher education facilities and the plastics industry, and are always on the search for more options with our disposers to recycle wallpaper. In previous years, we have been able to put over 90 % of our internal wallpaper leftovers in a technical recycling cycle. In doing so, the goods were normally supplied through a down-cycling process.
We are already researching for solutions to make at least some products groups recyclable, also through the disposal routes accessible to the end consumer, e.g. paper waste bins.