With the official implementation of the new environmental protection law in February 2017 and the continuous strengthening of the enforcement of environmental regulations, many furniture enterprises have felt the "strictest power" of furniture environmental management ever experienced, driving some companies onto a path of greener production.

Furniture Products Will Have Environmental Labels

The new standard specifies the terms and definitions, basic requirements, technical content, and test methods for furniture environmental label products. It applies to indoor furniture, including wood furniture, metal furniture, plastic furniture, upholstered furniture, rattan furniture, glass and stone furniture, and other furniture and accessories, but the standard does not apply to cabinet products. It is understood that the new version of the standard is stricter overall, adjusting and adding multiple environmental requirements. After the standard is implemented, furniture products that meet the criteria will carry an environmental label, indicating that the product not only meets corresponding product quality and safety standards but also complies with national environmental requirements during production and use.

The new standard adds requirements for leather and artificial leather raw materials, increases requirements for waste recycling and treatment during production; adjusts the requirements for hazardous substances in solvent-based wood coatings; and adds requirements for the limits of migratable elements and phthalates in products.

New Standard Specifies Multiple Details

The new standard requires that during the production process, furniture product manufacturers must classify and collect waste for treatment; effectively collect and treat sawdust and dust without direct discharge; and during the coating process, adopt effective gas collection measures and treat the collected exhaust gas.

Water-based Coatings Have Great Potential

More and more furniture industries are using water-based coatings (also known as "water-based paints"). The pressure of environmental regulation forces some enterprises to start trying this. Meanwhile, increasingly mature production technology is dispelling the concerns of many manufacturers regarding the increased cost of using water-based paint.

Electrostatic spraying is a new technology in modern spraying. It causes atomized paint particles to carry a negative charge in a DC high-voltage electric field, and then, under the action of the static field, they are adsorbed directionally onto the surface of the positively charged object to be sprayed, depositing into a uniform and firm paint film. Compared with ordinary brushing and spraying, electrostatic spraying not only results in a full paint film with strong adhesion and good decoration but also greatly improves the utilization rate of paint. Generally, the utilization rate of manual spraying paint is 30%-40%, while the utilization rate of electrostatic spraying paint can reach 70%-80%, greatly reducing the scattering of paint mist, lowering environmental pollution, improving working conditions, and ensuring the health of spraying workers.

However, many enterprises are hesitant when deciding whether to choose water-based paint.

First, national standards are not as high as those in Europe and America, allowing some fake water-based paints to take advantage, which damages the product quality of furniture enterprises genuinely using water-based paint.

Second, furniture manufacturers worry that the performance indicators of water-based paint are not as good as those of oil-based paint. In fact, many coating manufacturers and research institutes are currently spending a lot of time researching how to improve the performance of water-based paint. In fact, the hardness of coatings is not necessarily better when higher, as everyone's perception of hardness is different, and sometimes very hard materials do not have good durability.

Third, the price issue. The current price of water-based paint is generally higher than that of oil-based paint, and many enterprises therefore result in low utilization rates of water-based coatings in order to control costs.