MEDITE READY WITH CARB 2 COMPLIANT MDF
28th April 2009 - Company statement
Formaldehyde, a component in the raw material of the resins used to bind wood fibres by wood based composites industry, has long been subject to debate. With continued and growing interest in ‘healthy buildings', product emissions and indoor air quality, this is now a major live issue for panel products in Europe, the USA and Japan, all of which have developed their own standards in response.
Europe has led the way on formaldehyde reduction with the E1 standard but demands from the market, home product retailers and regulation coming from California have resulted in the call for stricter standards on MDF and chipboard producers than are currently being applied in Europe. The Californian Air Resources Board CARB system (which measures airborne emissions rather than the amount of the formaldehyde in the board) is emerging as the standard in the marketplace.
In the USA, the Californian CARB 1 regulation came into effect in January 2009 and, whilst not yet a national regulation in the US, is already being adopted ‘de-facto' by all US states, and several international home products retailers who are heavily dependent on composites are also developing formaldehyde reduction strategies. When the final limits are fully in place by 2012, the regulation will establish the toughest production standard in the world for formaldehyde emissions from composite wood panels.
Medite, part of the panel products division of Coillte – the Irish forestry and forest products company, is an industry pioneer and has long been at the forefront of ‘low formaldehyde' innovation in Europe. 1987 saw the introduction of Medite E1 and a few years later, the launch of ‘Medite Ecologique', a specialist zero-added formaldehyde product which, since its introduction, has been widely specified for environmentally sensitive interior applications such as museums, laboratories, art galleries and schools. Following a recent €16 million investment in new technology and equipment to improve production facilities and refiner capabilities at its plant in Clonmel in Ireland, Medite continues to be able to respond quickly to constantly evolving regulations. Now, Medite has the ability to manufacture MDF panels which have been certified in compliance with the emission standards of CARB 2; 18 months before the CARB 2 regulation becomes compulsory in the US. This also means that Medite is able to produce MDF which meets the EPF-S guideline standards currently being developed in Europe.
In response to the growing market demands for reduced formaldehyde emissions from MDF panels, Medite's managing director, Joe Kennedy, says “Our customers continuously demand that we provide panels which meet the highest international standards. We are now seeing a growing demand for MDF which is in compliance, not just with the current CARB 1 standard that came out this year, but also with the much more rigorous CARB 2 standard. Medite provides the assurance needed by our customers in the form of MDF produced to CARB 2 standards which we can produce to order, and we are now one of the first manufacturers able to satisfy this growing demand. Meeting these new ‘best in class' levels is a great step forward and to do it so far in advance of the 2011 US regulation deadline is a massive achievement for the technical and production teams at Medite.”
For details of CARB 2 compliant MDF available from Medite, contact Andrew Macdonald at andrew.macdonald@coillte.com or Geoff Rhodes at geoff.rhodes@coillte.com
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Notes to editor:
Medite Europe Ltd.
Medite Europe Ltd. is part of Coillte Panel Products and owned by Coillte (the Irish forestry board). Medite products are recognised as the benchmark for quality, consistency and performance in MDF, as well as being FSC certified. Medite has led the market in technical innovation, introducing such advances as moisture resistant, flame retardant, exterior grade, zero-added formaldehyde and flooring quality MDF varieties, and their programme of innovation is continuous.
Coillte Panel Products
Coillte Panel Products, owned by Coillte - the Irish forestry board, has brought together two leading European panel products operations: SmartPly OSB and Medite MDF. With turnover standing at in excess of €175,000,000, the Irish-based company has now become a significant and powerful player in Europe's composite board marketplace.
Both Medite and SmartPly are Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified, differentiating them from many competitor and substitute products, and enabling them to meet environmental standards which are becoming increasingly important to designers, specifiers, architects and clients for both public and private projects.
