Grades

What does the BASTA grade mean?

Within the BASTA system’s criteria area Health and Environmental Hazards, grades have been introduced to facilitate the interpretation of an article’s performance. To provide information within the criteria area and achieve a grade, information must be provided for all 39 criteria in the area.

ALFA

The ALPHA grade is the highest grade in the system. Products that achieve this grade meet criteria that restrict phase-out substances and priority risk-reduction substances in accordance with the Swedish Chemicals Agency’s PRIO tool

The ALPHA grade indicates that substances with hazardous properties are restricted to the greatest extent possible.

BETA

The BETA grade is the second-highest grade in the system. Products that achieve this grade comply with criteria that restrict phase-out substances according to the Swedish Chemicals Agency’s PRIO tool.

The BETA grade demonstrates that substances with hazardous properties are restricted to a high degree.

DECLARED

 

Products registered at this grade level do not meet all of the criteria required to achieve an ALFA or BETA grade. However, to register a product as DECLARED, full knowledge of the product’s content and of which criteria are fulfilled or not fulfilled is still required.

For products registered as DECLARED, information is provided on which criteria are fulfilled and which are not. This gives those making product choices the information needed to evaluate whether the product is suitable for use.

For chemically modified products

BETA to ALFA

This grade level applies only to chemical products that undergo a chemical change during use, for example through curing or drying.

 

The grade level means that the product complies with the requirements for the BETA grade at the time of delivery, but achieves the ALPHA grade in its built-in state.

 

This does not mean that all articles that undergo a chemical change will achieve the ALPHA grade. Only articles where the component causing the criteria not to be fulfilled either disappears or reacts away will achieve the ALFA grade.

 

An example of a product that does not qualify for BETA to ALPHA is the following:

 

A product contains an additive that prevents it from meeting the requirements for the ALPHA grade. The additive remains unchanged in the built-in state. The product will therefore not be able to achieve the ALPHA grade in its built-in state and can only be assigned the BETA grade.

 

DECLARED to ALFA

This grade level applies only to chemical products that undergo a chemical change during use, for example through curing or drying.

 

The grade means that the product meets the requirements for the DECLARED grade when supplied, but achieves the ALFA grade in its installed state. This does not mean that all products that undergo a chemical change will qualify for the ALFA grade. Only products where the substances preventing compliance with the criteria either disappear or react away during the process can achieve the ALFA grade.

 

An example of a product that does not qualify for the transition from DECLARED to ALFA is shown below:

 

A product contains an additive that prevents it from achieving the ALFA grade. The additive remains unchanged in the installed state. As a result, the product cannot achieve the ALFA grade in its installed state and can only be registered with the DECLARED grade.

How do I assess a product with electronic components?

Product group - ELECTRONICS

Building and construction products containing electronics and/or electronic components can be registered under this product group. The assessment and registration procedure differs to some extent from the other grades.

  • If 100% of the content of the electronic component is known, the entire product can be assessed in the same way as for the other grades. The registered article will receive a grade and be assigned to the ELECTRONICS product group.
  • If 100% of the content of the electronic component is not known, the part of the article that is not an electronic component is assessed in the same way as other articles, that is, according to the Health and Environmental Hazards criteria. The article as a whole will not receive a grade, but compliance with the criteria will be displayed for the assessed portion.

In both cases, the electronic components must comply with the RoHS Directive, and documentation demonstrating compliance must be available for review during an audit.