The Formica Group has attained another of its goals of its sustainability journey, with the introduction of Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified laminates manufactured in its European plants. In doing so, Formica says its FSC certified laminates are now available as standard across the majority of Formica Group’s European product portfolio. This includes the full plain colour offer and over 70% of patterns, available in high pressure laminate (HPL) and compact grade laminates and also specialist Formica product ranges such as DecoMetal metallic laminates, ColorCore and its colour laminates.
An increasing number of commercial and residential projects are demanding certified wood-based products; Formica's FSC-controlled wood laminates can be combined with FSC mix board/materials to produce a final certified product. This can be used for applications such as furniture, wall panelling, doors, worktops and washroom cubicles, and can also contribute to credits under green building schemes such as Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) ratings systems.
Formica said in 2012 that it had achieved the internationally-recognised FSC chain of custody certification for its global manufacturing operations.
"At Formica Group we have adopted a forward thinking approach to understand the future sustainability impacts on the business. FSC compliance in all of our facilities was a key goal and now with FSC Certified Laminates, and in particular with the introduction of new EU Timber Regulations, customers across Europe can be assured that the materials used in the production of our products are from carefully monitored sources," said Gavin Todd, group development director.
EU Timber Regulation (EUTR) came into force March 3rd this year making it illegal to place illegally harvested timber and timber products onto the EU market. Forest certification schemes, such as FSC, can play a major role in reducing the risk of illegal timber in the supply chain as all certified timber originates from a forest or forest region that has been risk assessed against a number of criteria including legality.
Formica Group is this year celebrating a century of innovation in the production of laminate, and continues to develop in the 21st century by evolving its product offering and operating as a responsible company.
