The furniture industry should work towards reducing chemical fire retardants before safely removing them, a round table event organised by the BFM has concluded.
The event brought together people from across the industry, from retailers to bed and upholstery manufacturers to academics and charity representatives.
‘Although we don’t have an immediate solution, it is encouraging that the majority of people seemed to be in favour of reducing chemical fire retardants from furniture and ultimately finding a safe route forwards to remove them completely. From that perspective, the industry is aligned in making products healthier, safer, and fire resilient as well. It’s just been inspiring the amount of people who have given up their time from so many different levels of industry and different technical abilities so we can have a consolidated view on how we move forward with the FR regs,’ says Phil Spademan, BFM md.
‘The UK has become an outlier globally in saying it’s more important to give people time to get out in the event of a fire, rather than avoid using chemical compounds in furniture that could have serious negative health effects,’ says David Fitzsimons, director of circular economy consultants Oakdene Hollins and of the European Remanufacturing Council.
‘This event was a first step towards the industry pulling together as a whole. From here, we can build, and consolidate, then start communicating with government via the BFC to lobby decision-makers and ensure they are aware of the issues in our industry,’ says Spademan.
