kSIST FprEN 17903:2024

SLOVENSKI STANDARD
oSIST prEN 17903:2023
01-julij-2023
Opredelitev in deklariranje reciklirane vsebine (organske in anorganske) v
tekstilnih talnih oblogah
Definition and declaration of recycled content (organic and inorganic) in textile floor
coverings.
Definition und Deklaration des Recyclinganteils (organisch und anorganisch) in textilen
Bodenbelägen
Définition et déclaration de la teneur en matières recyclées (organiques et inorganiques)
dans les revêtements de sol textiles
Ta slovenski standard je istoveten z: prEN 17903
ICS:
97.150 Talne obloge Floor coverings
oSIST prEN 17903:2023 en,fr,de
2003-01.Slovenski inštitut za standardizacijo. Razmnoževanje celote ali delov tega standarda ni dovoljeno.

oSIST prEN 17903:2023
oSIST prEN 17903:2023
DRAFT
EUROPEAN STANDARD
prEN 17903
NORME EUROPÉENNE
EUROPÄISCHE NORM
June 2023
ICS 97.150
English Version
Definition and declaration of recycled content (organic and
inorganic) in textile floor coverings.
Definition und Deklaration des Recyclinganteils
(organisch und anorganisch) in textilen Bodenbelägen
This draft European Standard is submitted to CEN members for enquiry. It has been drawn up by the Technical Committee
CEN/TC 134.
If this draft becomes a European Standard, CEN members are bound to comply with the CEN/CENELEC Internal Regulations
which stipulate the conditions for giving this European Standard the status of a national standard without any alteration.

This draft European Standard was established by CEN in three official versions (English, French, German). A version in any other
language made by translation under the responsibility of a CEN member into its own language and notified to the CEN-CENELEC
Management Centre has the same status as the official versions.

CEN members are the national standards bodies of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia,
Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway,
Poland, Portugal, Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye and
United Kingdom.
Recipients of this draft are invited to submit, with their comments, notification of any relevant patent rights of which they are
aware and to provide supporting documentation.

Warning : This document is not a European Standard. It is distributed for review and comments. It is subject to change without
notice and shall not be referred to as a European Standard.

EUROPEAN COMMITTEE FOR STANDARDIZATION
COMITÉ EUROPÉEN DE NORMALISATION

EUROPÄISCHES KOMITEE FÜR NORMUNG

CEN-CENELEC Management Centre: Rue de la Science 23, B-1040 Brussels
© 2023 CEN All rights of exploitation in any form and by any means reserved Ref. No. prEN 17903:2023 E
worldwide for CEN national Members.

oSIST prEN 17903:2023
prEN 17903:2023 (E)
Contents Page
European foreword . 3
Introduction . 4
1 Scope . 5
2 Normative references . 5
3 Terms and definitions . 5
4 Definition of different groups of textile floor coverings . 10
4.1 General. 10
4.2 Group 1 . 11
4.2.1 General. 11
4.2.2 Materials in the use-layer . 13
4.2.3 Materials in the backing . 14
4.2.4 Calculation of recycled material content (RC) and recycled material mass (RM) . 14
4.2.5 Calculation of bio-based material content (BC) and bio-based material mass (BM) . 16
4.2.6 Calculation of renewable and natural-material content (NC) and natural-material
mass (NM) . 16
4.3 Group 2 . 17
5 Definition of system boundaries . 17
5.1 General. 17
5.2 Recycled materials . 17
5.3 Bio-based polymers . 17
5.4 The recycling process . 18
5.5 Renewable and natural materials . 18
5.6 Virgin Materials . 18
5.7 Cut off criteria . 18
6 Reporting format . 18
6.1 General. 18
6.2 Determination of the non-virgin mass (nVM) . 18
6.3 Determination of the non-virgin content (nVC) . 18
6.4 Determination of the virgin mass (VM) . 19
6.5 Determination of the virgin content (VC) . 19
Annex A (informative) Examples for the calculation and reporting of recycled, bio-based and
renewable material content in textile floor coverings . 20
oSIST prEN 17903:2023
prEN 17903:2023 (E)
European foreword
This document (prEN 17903:2023) has been prepared by Technical Committee CEN/TC 134 “Resilient,
textile, laminate and modular mechanical locked floor coverings”, the secretariat of which is held by NBN.
This document is currently submitted to the CEN Enquiry.
oSIST prEN 17903:2023
prEN 17903:2023 (E)
Introduction
Answering a need to develop a circular economy for floor covering products, this document is intended
to allow producers and consumers to exchange information on the use and content of recycled, bio-based
and renewable materials in textile floor coverings. Where necessary, a distinction is made between
organic and inorganic materials. The standard provides a clear systematic definition and reporting
format to allow a transparent information exchange between producers, consumers and the recycling
industry.
oSIST prEN 17903:2023
prEN 17903:2023 (E)
1 Scope
This document establishes definitions related to the use of organic and inorganic recyclates, bio-based
and natural (animal- or plant-based) materials in textile floor coverings and defines calculation and
reporting methods for the transparent and consistent declaration thereof.
2 Normative references
The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content
constitutes requirements of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For
undated references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
EN 1307, Textile floor coverings — Classification
ISO 472, Plastics — Vocabulary
ISO 2424, Textile floor coverings — Vocabulary
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the terms and definitions given in EN 1307, ISO 472, ISO 2424 and the
following apply.
3.1
textile floor covering with pile / pile textile floor covering
floor covering having a textile use-surface formed from a layer of yarns or fibres projecting from a
substrate
3.2
textile floor covering without pile
floor covering composed of a non-pile textile use-surface, with or without a substrate
3.3
unit area
default surface area of a textile floor covering, defined as 1 m
3.4
total carpet weight
TCW
total mass of a textile floor covering per unit area in g/m
3.5
use-layer
part of a textile floor covering directly exposed to traffic
Note 1 to entry: The use-layer is often also called “use-surface”.
oSIST prEN 17903:2023
prEN 17903:2023 (E)
3.6
total use-layer weight
TUW
total mass of the defined use-layer per unit area in g/m
Note 1 to entry: In the case of pile carpets the TUW is identical with the total pile weight (TPW).
Note 2 to entry: For non pile carpets this is the weight of all yarns that form the use-layer, including those yarn parts
that penetrate the integral ground-weave or the backing layer (see figures 2, 3 and 4).
3.7
substrate
construction element, integral with the use-surface and composed of one or more layers, which serves as
a support for the use-surface.
Note 1 to entry: For the purpose of this standard the substrate (primary backing) is considered to be part of the
backing.
Note 2 to entry: The substrate is often also called “primary-backing”.
3.8
Backing
CB
one or more layers separately attached to the use-surface
Note 1 to entry: These layers can be of textile nature or non-textile nature. All materials in a pile floor covering other
than the pile yarn.
Note 2 to entry: The backing is often also called “carpet backing” or “secondary backing”.
3.9
total backing weight
TBW
total mass of all materials used in the backing per unit area in g/m
3.10
ground weave
GW
part of a woven carpet that forms the integral backing based on the weaving pattern
Note 1 to entry: A ground weave can be found in woven pile carpets or in flat woven carpets.
Note 2 to entry: In some cases an additional backing (CB) might be applied to carpets having a ground weave.
3.11
total pile
all portions of yarns or fibres used to form the tufts or loops above, below and within the substrate
oSIST prEN 17903:2023
prEN 17903:2023 (E)
3.12
total pile weight
TPW
mass of the pile yarn including that forming the base of the tufts or held in the substrate, but excluding
any backing compound adhering to the pile yarn
Note 1 to entry: The TPW is reported as mass of total pile per unit area above, within and below the substrate,
in g/m .
Note 2 to entry: TPW = TCW - TBW
3.13
surface pile
part of a textile floor covering consisting of textile yarns or fibres, projecting from the substrate and acting
as use-layer
Note 1 to entry: The surface pile is often also called “pile” or “effective pile”.
3.14
surface pile weight
SPW
difference in the mass of a textile floor covering before and after the pile above the substrate (effective
pile or surface pile) has been shorn away
Note 1 to entry: The SPW is reported as mass of pile per unit area above substrate in g/m .
3.15
dead pile
part of the pile yarn not being part of the use-layer
3.16
dead pile weight
DPW
mass of pile not being part of the use-layer, in g/m
Note 1 to entry: DPW = TPW-SPW
3.17
filler
relatively inert solid material added to a plastic or to an adhesive to modify its strength, permanence,
working properties or other qualities, or to lower costs
Note 1 to entry: Two classes of filler have to be considered:
— chemically inert fillers, e.g., china clay or wood flour or chalk (limestone);
— reinforcing fillers like silicates, carbon black, fibrous materials or aluminium powder that markedly
enhance the performance of a polymer.
Note 2 to entry: A filler only used to reduce cost is termed an “extender”.
3.18
polymer
molecule containing a chain of at least three monomer units which have entered into a covalent bond
with at least one other monomer unit or other reactant.
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prEN 17903:2023 (E)
Note 1 to entry: See REACH Article 3(5)
3.18.1
monomer
substance that is converted via the polymerisation reaction into a polymer chain with repeating units
3.18.2
oligomer
substance that is converted via a polymerisation reaction into a short chain with at least 2 repeating units
but significantly less than a polymer
Note 1 to entry: Different to Polymers having the same repeating units, a small increase in the number of repeating
units will change the physical properties.
3.18.3
bio-based polymers
polymers where the monomers used for the polymerisation are partially or in whole made from
renewable biological resources
Note 1 to entry: Also man-made organic fibres based on the transformation of natural polymers, like viscose, lyocell
and acetate count as bio-based polymers.
Note 2 to entry: Bio-based polymers can be chemically identical with polymers made from crude oil. Which makes
a clear distinction at the end-of-life stage of a textile floor covering difficult or impossible.
3.18.4
bio-degradable polymers/plastics
polymers or plastics where the polymer-chain can be fully degraded into CO , H O, NO and biomass by
2 x
biological processes.
Note 1 to entry: The degradation process should not lead to non-degradable residues or micro-plastics.
Note 2 to entry: Bio-degradable polymers can be made from fossil-based or bio-based sources.
3.19
plastic
material which contains as an essential ingredient a polymer besides additives and fillers and which, at
some stage in its processing into finished products, can be shaped by flow
Note 1 to entry: Elastomeric materials, which are also shaped by flow, are not considered to be plastics.
3.20
compound
intimate mixture of a polymer or polymers with other ingredients such as additives, e.g., fillers,
plasticizers, catalysts and colorants
3.21
natural fibres
fibres made from natural resources like animals or plants
3.22
renewable fibres
materials or fibres that are made from natural non-fossil-based resources that can be continually
replenished
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prEN 17903:2023 (E)
3.23
recycled materials
all kind of materials prepared in a production process from waste materials for any purpose, but
excluding energy recovery
3.24
recovered material
material that has been separated, diverted or removed from the solid-waste stream in order to be
recycled or used to substitute virgin raw materials
3.25
virgin material
unused raw materials that have never been subjected to any processing other than for its production
Note 1 to entry: this includes also cascading production process which can be traced back to virgin raw materials
e.g., polymers which are made of monomers, which themselves have been synthesized in a series of production
steps that have started with a virgin raw material like crude oil
Note 2 to entry: this includes in principle also bio-based, natural and renewable materials, but to avoid any double
counting e.g., as virgin and bio-based, bio-based natural and renewable materials are not counted as “virgin
materials” see 5. Definition of system boundaries.
3.26
non-virgin material
all other materials not defined as virgin
3.27
recycled content: RC
proportion, by mass, of recycled material in a textile floor covering, the use-layer or the backing expressed
in % per unit area (%/m ) only considering pre-consumer and post-consumer waste materials
Note 1 to entry: For the relevant definition of the term “recycled content” see prEN CEN TC 134/WG 10 N272.
3.28
recycled mass: RM
absolute mass of recycled content (RC) of the relevant carpet components, use-layer or backing and the
textile floor covering itself per unit area expressed in g/m
3.29
bio-based content
BC
proportion, by mass, of bio-based material in a textile floor covering, the use-layer or the backing per unit
2 2
area expressed in % per m (%/m )
Note 1 to entry: For the definition of the term “bio-based” see prEN CEN TC 134/WG 10 N272.
3.30
bio-based mass
BM
absolute mass of bio-based content (BC) of the relevant carpet components, use-layer or backing and the
textile floor covering itself per unit area expressed in g/m
oSIST prEN 17903:2023
prEN 17903:2023 (E)
3.31
renewable and natural material content
NC
proportion, by mass, of renewable and natural materials in a textile floor covering, the use-layer or the
2 2
backing per uinit area expressed in % per m (%/m )
3.32
renewable and natural mass
NM
absolute mass of renewable and natural material content (NC) of the relevant carpet components, use-
layer or backing and the textile floor covering itself per unit area expressed in g/m
3.33
virgin content
VC
proportion, by mass, of virgin material in a textile floor covering, the use-layer or the backing expressed
in % per unit area (%/m )
3.34
virgin mass
VM
absolute mass of virgin material content (VC) of the relevant carpet components, use-layer or backing
and the textile floor covering itself per unit area expressed in g/m
3.35
non-virgin content: n-VC
proportion, by mass, of non-virgin material in a textile floor covering, the use-layer or the backing
expressed in % per unit area (%/m )
3.36
non-virgin mass
absolute mass of non-virgin material content (VC) of the relevant carpet components, use-layer or
backing and the textile floor covering itself per unit area expressed in g/m
4 Definition of different groups of textile floor coverings
4.1 General
For the purpose of this standard, textile floor coverings are divided into 2 groups based on general
construction characteristics (for details see ISO 2424).
oSIST prEN 17903:2023
prEN 17903:2023 (E)
4.2 Group 1
4.2.1 General
All types of textile floor covering with or without pile, including textile floor covering tiles, where a clear
distinction between materials used in use-layer and backing can be made.
The relevant construction elements for this group are shown and described in the following indicative
pictures.
Note 1 to entry: The backing can either be an integral part of the textile floor covering like a ground-weave (see
figure 2) or an additional backing layer that has been attached via lamination or coating.

Key
1 pile fibres, forming the use-layer A surface pile, effective pile
2 substrate, primary backing B area with dead pile
3 pre-coat, coating C use-layer
4 backing layer D backing layer
5 support fabric, secondary backing
Figure 1 — Relevant construction elements for tufted, fusion bonded and flocked textile floor
coverings with pile (see ISO 2424:2007- 4.1.2, 4.1.4, 4.1.5)
oSIST prEN 17903:2023
prEN 17903:2023 (E)
Key
1 pile fibres C use-layer
2 additional backing (optional) D ground weave, integral backing layer
A surface pile, effective pile E additional backing with ground weave
B area with dead pile
Figure 2 — Relevant construction elements for woven, knotted, knitted and other types of textile
floor coverings belonging to group 1 (see ISO 2424)

Key
1 yarns in use-layer B integral ground weave, backing
2 additional backing C backing, including additional backing
A use-layer
Figure 3 — Relevant construction elements for flatwoven textile floor coverings
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prEN 17903:2023 (E)
Key
1 use-layer (A) without backing 3 use-layer with non-textile backing (B2)
2 use-layer with textile backing (B1) 4 use-layer with multiple backing layers of different kind
Figure 4 — Relevant construction elements for other types of textile floor coverings e.g. needle
punched textile floor coverings
4.2.2 Materials in the use-layer
4.2.2.1 General
The use-layer is that part of a textile floor covering which is directly exposed to traffic. In many cases the
materials used in the use-layer penetrate also the substrate and the backing layer. This portion of the
yarns is called dead yarn or dead pile. Sometimes, depending on the construction of a textile floor
covering this portion can be higher than the portion in the use-layer itself.
4.2.2.2 Yarns forming the use-layer
4.2.2.2.1 Introduction
Depending on the construction of a textile floor covering it is not always obvious which amount of the
yarns have to be taken into account for the calculation procedure described in this standard, as they
partly belong to the use-layer and the backing layer as well (see Figure 1 and Figure 2). The following
definitions therefore apply.
oSIST prEN 17903:2023
prEN 17903:2023 (E)
4.2.2.2.2 Pile textile floor coverings
All fibres/yarns needed to form the pile (1 in figures 1 and 2), including those portions below and within
the substrate are counted
The total use-layer weight (TUW) in this case is identical with the total pile weight (TPW):
— TPW = SPW + DPW = TUW
The substrate (primary backing) or any part of the precoat are not taken into account. These components
belong to the backing (see D and E in figures 1 and 2).
Each material or component of the use-layer has to be reported separately in grams per unit area (g/m ).
The weight of the use-layer (TUW) is the sum of all reported components
4.2.2.2.3 Non pile textile floor coverings
The total use-layer weight (TUW) is defined by the weight of the yarns used to create the use-layer. (see 1
in figure 3 and A in figure 4).
Each material or component of the use-layer has to be reported separately in grams per unit area (g/m ).
The weight of the use-layer (TUW) is the sum of all reported components.
4.2.3 Materials in the backing
Materials in the backing are all materials except those in use-layer. In the case of woven carpets this
includes materials of the ground-weave and any additional backing layer.
Each material or component of the backing has to be reported separately in grams per unit area (g/m ).
The weight of the backing (TBW) is the sum of all reported components.
4.2.4 Calculation of recycled material content (RC) and recycled material mass (RM)
4.2.4.1 General
Recycled content (RC) and recycled mass (RM) are reported separately for:
— the textile floor covering
— the use-layer and
— the backing
All RC-values are rounded to one digit after the comma. All RM-values are rounded to the nearest gram.
To allow a transparent information on the type of recycled materials used, each component containing
recycled materials has to be listed separately. If identical components are used
...