About us
Build with BASTA – Conscious Product Choices
BASTA is a non-profit company owned by IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute and Byggföretagen (the Swedish Construction Federation). Since its establishment more than 20 years ago, BASTA has worked to phase out hazardous substances from construction products. Today, the system has evolved into a platform for open sustainability information.
Our customers and users represent a wide range of stakeholders within the construction and civil engineering sectors, including manufacturers and suppliers of building materials, contractors, designers, property owners and architects.
By helping to phase out substances with hazardous properties from construction and civil engineering products, the BASTA system contributes to achieving:
- Sweden’s national environmental quality objective, “A Non-toxic environment”
- The United Nations sustainable development goal, “Responsible consumption and production”
- The Swedish Chemicals Agency’s work with the "PRIO tool"
Our vision
Construction and civil engineering product choices are made in an informed and sustainable way:
- With consideration for relevant sustainability aspects, with a focus on hazardous substances and climate impact.
- Information remains available throughout the product lifecycle, enabling the right products to be reused or recycled.
Our mission
The BASTA System provides open tools for informed choices.
We drive the industry's transition through a quality-assured system with open and easily accessible sustainability information.
How do we achieve this?
- We support product selection based on multiple sustainability aspects, such as chemical content, climate efficiency, circularity and renewability.
- We provide an open system that gives everyone who wants to make sustainable product choices access to quality-assured product assessments.
- The criteria within the system are transparent, science-based, and harmonised with European chemicals legislation and the Swedish Chemicals Agency's PRIO-Tool.