NUREMBERG, GERMANY - When it comes to wood, flooring and other household products, German consumers want to see independent quality seals provide evidence of environmental credentials and sustainability claims used for advertising purposes. Sustainable products aren't just a fad. Customers in Germany and on global markets are increasingly rejecting superficial "greenwashing." Instead. they want credible suppliers who don't just promise environmentally sound and socially responsible actions or ecological product features in their advertising but also actually deliver them.

A study published in March and undertaken by international consumer research firm Gesellschaft für Konsumforschung (GfK, Nuremberg) on behalf of PEFC Deutschland e.V. reveals that more than 80 percent of those surveyed believe that companies which use environmental and sustainability claims for advertising purposes need to be able to demonstrate them in full. Four of five Germans consider independent certificates suitable for this. The European brand-name manufacturers of laminate floors committed themselves to the principle of sustainability, set new standards in environmental compatibility and advocated independent test commissions at an early stage.

Sustainability is increasingly becoming a selling point – not just with architects and contractors, but also in the private domain among people building or renovating their own homes. For these clients, laminate flooring has proven to be a sustainable product for all life phases. The flooring sector has an exemplary and pioneering role to play in the debate surrounding sustainability. The European brand producers who have come together in the Verband der Europäischen Laminatfußbodenhersteller e.V. (EPLF) have, for example, long been committed to observing environmental declarations. And they have enjoyed success from this approach. Interior design products which have a positive environmental impact and can demonstrate this in specific environmental declarations (EPD) are now increasingly being used in the commercial construction sector. In shopfitting in particular where cycles of innovation are dynamic and getting shorter all the time, unmistakably "green" high-tech products are in demand. Customers want high-quality products from renewable sources offering flexible use and which can be fully recycled.

An awareness of sustainability is on the rise among many groups of customers. "The EPLF and its member companies made a clear commitment to sustainable construction early on," says EPLF President Ludger Schindler. "For years our members have been continually investing in the development of innovative and environmentally friendly products. The EPLF was one of the first groups in the flooring industry to prompt the development of EPDs and therefore paved the way towards increased transparency and product safety for the consumer."