• The UNE 149002 standard establishes the criteria and requirements that identify which products are biodegradable and disintegrable and therefore, can be disposed of or not in the toilet.

• Among other requirements, the Standard indicates that the products must not contain synthetic materials and that they must successfully pass all the required tests.

• The standard was promoted by the water and paper industries and drawn up with the participation of all the parties involved, being the result of a common consensus. AITEX has actively participated in the development of the standard as a technical expert.

The Spanish Standardisation Association, UNE, has published UNE 149002: 2019 Criteria for acceptance of disposable products via the toilet. The Standard establishes the requirements that identify which products are biodegradable and disintegrable and, consequently, whether they can be flushed or not.
AITEX performs the laboratory tests according to UNE 149002, consisting of:

• Composition
• Disintegration
• Sedimentation
• Aerobic biodegradation
• Anaerobic biodegradation

The standard provides an effective response to the problem of obstructions in the sanitation network, by allowing quality disposable products that are environmentally friendly, by establishing objective criteria.

UNE 149002 applies to products commonly used in the bathroom, which are designed, labelled and marketed implicitly or explicitly as flushable.
Wet toilet paper and other disposable products must meet the requirements established for the tests indicated above through acceptance criteria. For example, the products should not contain synthetic materials in their composition.

The Standard also establishes the marking, labelling and information that should be displayed on compliant products, to ensure that only those that are effectively disposable end up in the toilet.

The Standard has been strongly supported by the Spanish water and paper industries, who, concerned about this problem, formed a working group whose secretariat developed the Spanish Association of Water Supply and Sanitation (AEAS) within the Spanish Standardisation Association, UNE. The Technical Committee has prepared the Standard for Standardisation CTN 149 – Water Engineering, in which all the parties involved participated and agreed unanimously.
Among them are the sector associations, corporate members of UNE: the Spanish Association of Water Supply and Sanitation Companies (AEAS); Association of Pulp, Paper and Cardboard Manufacturers (ASPAPEL); National Association of Perfumery and Cosmetics (STANPA) and Association of Detergent Companies and Cleaning, Maintenance and Related Products (ADELMA). Water operators, manufacturers and processors of raw materials, testing laboratories and wastewater pump manufacturers, among others, have also participated.

For more information contact:

The Spanish Association for Standardisation- UNE: www.une.org

AITEX’s Health and Hygiene Products Technical Unit: jsisternes@aitex.es