|
 May
12, 2010 - A surge in the number
of foam manufacturers offering
CertiPUR-US® registered
foams is putting this new, but
well-respected voluntary
certification and labeling
program on the radar screen of
an increasing number of
furniture and bedding
manufacturers and retailers.
The latest companies to offer
CertiPUR-US certified foams
include: Flexible Foam Products,
Inc, Spencerville, OH, FXI
Foamex Innovations, Media, PA,
Premier Foam, Inc., Newnan, GA,
Advanced Urethane
Technologies/Sleep Innovations,
West Chicago, IL, and Sinomax
USA, Inc., Houston, TX.
“Retail interest is also driving
the momentum,” explains Robert
Luedeka, Executive Director of
the Alliance for Flexible
Polyurethane Foam. “We’re seeing
a number of retailers who are
specifying CertiPUR-US certified
foams, including Nature’s Sleep
and BedinaBox.com that are
specifying certified foams
exclusively.”
Luedeka predicts this trend to
grow as an increasing number of
manufacturers and retailers
specify CertiPUR-US foam
products. Luedeka says: “The
CertiPUR-US label certifies the
foam has passed independent
testing to assure compliance
with the program’s voluntary
standards for emissions and
content. We are also seeing
CertiPUR-US used as a
value-added marketing tool to
answer the questions of a
growing number of consumers who
want a greater level of comfort
and confidence in the furniture
and mattresses they buy.”
CertiPUR-US certification is
open to all producers of
furniture and bedding foam
products. In fact, one of the
recent companies to register a
viscoelastic foam is Sinomax
USA, whose parent company is
headquartered in China. To earn
CertiPUR-US certification, foams
must undergo laboratory testing
and adhere to the U.S. Voluntary
Physical Performance and
Environmental Certification
Guidelines for Flexible
Polyurethane Foam for Use in
Furniture and Bedding Items.
The CertiPUR-US certification
process subjects FPF products to
a battery of independent
laboratory examinations
including tests for VOCs and
chemical analysis. Compliant
products must also be
manufactured without use of
prohibited materials such as
ozone-depleting CFCs, methylene
chloride, PBDE fire retardants,
lead, mercury and other
materials of concern. CertiPUR-US
also sets baseline requirements
for foam physical performance
that can contribute to foam
comfort and durability.
Individual foams in six
different categories may be
certified only after passing
rigorous independent laboratory
testing and must be recertified
every six months for the first
year and, annually thereafter
for foams. This year, the
Alliance for Flexible
Polyurethane Foam will begin
implementing its random sample
checks of products in the
marketplace to verify that only
compliant foams are being sold
and marketed under the CertiPUR-US
seal.
In addition, flexible
polyurethane foam raw materials,
equipment and technology
companies may become CertiPUR-US
program sponsors. Current
sponsors include The Dow
Chemical Company, the Center for
the Polyurethanes Industry, ICL-IP
America, Inc. and Thomson
Research Associates.
Today,
Simmons Bedding Company
announced that all of the
polyurethane-based foams in the
company’s mattress lines have
earned CertiPUR-US
certification.
For more information about
Simmons Bedding Company, please
www.simmons.com.
Conceived by the Polyurethane
Foam Association, CertiPUR-US is
now a program of Alliance for
Flexible Polyurethane Foam, Inc.
The program is adapted from, and
closely aligned with, the
European CertiPUR program,
developed in 2002 by Europur,
the association of European
flexible polyurethane foam block
manufacturers. Two key additions
in the CertiPUR-US program
include the U.S. minimum
physical performance criteria
and shorter intervals between
recertification testing.
CertiPUR-US is a registered
certification mark of Alliance
for Flexible Polyurethane Foam,
Inc.
More information is available
at
www.certipur.us. |
