Currently, about 40 percent of the wood boards used by Hanssem are E0 class materials, and they are mainly used in luxury kitchen furniture, and furniture for children and students. (image: Hanssem)
SEOUL, May 14 (Korea Bizwire) — Large furniture manufactures in Korea are competitively expanding their usage of eco-friendly materials to meet consumer demand for increased safety and well-being.
According to an industry source, large furniture makers like Hanssem and Hyundai Livart are increasing their use of E0 class eco-friendly materials competitively.
Medium density fiberboard (MDF) and particle board (PB), both commonly used materials in furniture, are classified by their level of formaldehyde emissions from E2, the highest, to super E0, the lowest. E0 class MDF and PB emit 70 percent less formaldehyde than E1, but cost 10 to 15 percent more.
In spite of the increased cost for manufacturing the products, Hanssem, Korea’s largest furniture maker, increased E0 class materials by 60 percent last year compared to 2013.
Currently, about 40 percent of the wood boards used by Hanssem are E0 class materials, and they are mainly used in luxury kitchen furniture, and furniture for children and students.
Meanwhile, Hyundai Livart, the second largest furniture maker in Korea, is more aggressively expanding its use of ecofriendly materials. In April of last year, it declared that it would not use wood boards of lower than E1 class and increased its usage of E0 wood boards by 64 percent.
An official at Livart said, “Currently, we use E0 class materials in making B2C products. Last year, we used 3.8 million E0 class boards, the largest amount among Korean furniture makers.”
Industry observers see the increased usage of eco-friendly wood board as attributable to IKEA’s advancement into Korea. IKEA is known as a byword for furniture made with eco-friendly materials.
By M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
