US EPA

1958626 

Journal Article 

IKEA's requirements today and in the future 

Djurberg, H 

2002 

15-16 

WOS:000230949600004 

IKEA wants to contribute to a better everyday life for people by offering a wide range of well-designed, functional home furnishing products at prices so low that as many people as possible are able to afford them. IKEA attempts to offer a healthy product to its customers, produced in a responsible way, under good working conditions without using hazardous materials or chemicals.



The purpose of this paper is to describe the IKEA requirements for wood-based particle-board regarding formaldehyde emissions and to discuss future challenges for particleboard-based furniture production for IKEA in North America.



For formaldehyde emissions from furniture, IKEA refers to the German E1-standard, stating that the emission must not exceed 0.1 ppm, measured according to ENV 717-1 (Large European Chamber, WKI).



In North America particleboard fulfilling the requirements in ANSI A 208.1-1999, Table B, can be used, given that the finished product is tested and the emissions do not exceed 0.12 ppm according to ASTM E 1333-90 (North American Large Chamber test). All other constituent materials must meet the El requirement.



There are challenges for IKEA suppliers in North America to meet these requirements for particleboard since the supply of E1-certified board on the market is limited. Further, the price for particleboard in North America is significantly higher than that in Europe, resulting in IKEA suppliers in North America importing particleboard from Europe. IKEA would like to see more integration between particleboard mills and the furniture manufacturing plants in order to compete more successfully with European suppliers.