SAN FRANCISCO -- Smith & Fong Plyboo has begun converting its plants in Taiwan and China to urea-formaldehyde-free manufacturing processes. The result will be UF-free Plyboo flooring made available throughout the North American market by the end of this year.
The company said it has developed a proprietary adhesive process that accommodates the production challenges of manufacturing formaldehyde-free bamboo flooring in China. Dan Smith, president and founder of Smith & Fong, said 50 percent of Smith & Fong's Plyboo bamboo plywood and flooring product lines will be converted to a UF-free process in 2008. The transition, Smith said, will enable architects and specifiers to achieve credits through the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership for Energy and Environmental Design standards.
"There is no reason formaldehyde cannot be eliminated completely from adhesives while maintaining quality and efficiency," Smith said. "That's exactly what we're doing here."
Smith further noted that when the California Air Resources Board voted in its two-phase regulations to reduce and eliminate formaldehyde from composite wood products earlier this year, Plyboo had already surpassed the CARB regulations' most stringent emission levels. n