LG Hausys has launched an eco-friendly ‘Recycle Furniture Film,’ Korea’s first furniture film made by recycling PET bottles.
Furniture film is a surface finishing material that is applied to the surface of plywood—a furniture material—to express a variety of designs. Able to freely render a range of patterns, from wood to marble and metal, as well as glossy and matte textures, it is a material used on many types of furniture, including kitchen sink units, wardrobes, and desks.
Until now, the furniture film industry had faced difficulties using recycled PET as a raw material for furniture film, owing to variations in product color and quality caused by impurities in PET bottles, as well as delamination—a phenomenon in which the plywood and the furniture film separate.
Using its own proprietary technology to optimize the product structure, LG Hausys resolved the delamination issue as well as the color and quality variations, becoming the first company in Korea to mass-produce furniture film made with recycled PET bottle materials. A related patent application is also underway. Because of the technical challenges involved, the only overseas company to have developed furniture film using recycled PET bottle materials is a single Japanese firm.
When LG Hausys’ ‘Recycle Furniture Film’ is applied to the kitchen furniture of a single 84㎡ (net floor area) apartment unit, about 70 PET bottles are recycled.
Considering LG Hausys’ annual furniture film output, approximately 15 million PET bottles can be recycled each year, which is expected to contribute to the worldwide movement to reduce single-use plastics—a movement driven by recent environmental issues such as plastic garbage islands and recycling-collection crises.
Meanwhile, in 2012, LG Hausys became the first company in Korea to launch furniture film using PET—a material whose safety has been verified to the extent that it is used in food and beverage containers—and has led the domestic furniture film market ever since. Now, by introducing a product made from recycled PET as well, the company has demonstrated its advanced technological capabilities.
In the global furniture film market, currently estimated at around 400 billion won, LG Hausys is competing fiercely with a Japanese company for the No. 1 position. As the meaning of “eco-friendly” expands worldwide from reducing hazardous substances to resource circulation, the company’s strategy is to cement its position as the firm No. 1 player through its newly introduced ‘Recycle Furniture Film.’
Kang Shin-woo, Executive Vice President and head of LG Hausys’ Surface Materials Business Division, said, “We plan to supply Recycle Furniture Film to global furniture makers in Europe, North America, and elsewhere,” adding, “We plan to pursue sustainable growth that considers the earth and the environment.” 080-005-4000