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Kaiser Permanente's PVC-Free Carpeting Challenge Fulfilled by Collins & Aikman; Shaw to End PVC Carpet Production This Year CHICAGO - Responding to Kaiser Permanente's challenge to develop a PVC-free carpet that can meet the health care giant's exacting environmental and performance standards, Collins & Aikman (C&A) introduced a new carpet line, which uses an alternative plastic material for the carpet backing. In addition to C&A's announcement at NeoCon, the premier commercial interiors event in North America, Shaw committed to end all production of PVC-backed carpet this year. "Kaiser Permanente's commitment to avoid PVC due to its environmental health hazards is helping drive a growing market demand for safer alternatives to PVC that are competitively priced and superior in performance," said Tom Lent of the Healthy Building Network. "We applaud Kaiser's leadership, and C&A achievement in meeting the PVC-free challenge," said Lent. The Healthy Building Network works with Kaiser Permanente as an advisor on matters related to the environmental health impact of their buildings. Kaiser, other major consumers, and local governments are increasingly adopting PVC- avoidance policies based upon concern that PVC is the worst plastic from an environmental health perspective. PVC is a major source of dioxin - the most potent carcinogen known to science - and other chemicals that can cause cancer, birth defects, and reproductive and immune system damage. The announcement of its PVC-free carpet, ethos, launches Collins & Aikman into a growing group of building materials manufacturers that are listening to their customers' concerns with the health impacts of PVC and exploring the use of alternate polymers. The last year has seen a marked acceleration of this trend. Shaw committed to stop producing PVC-backed carpet this year, while gearing up production of its Ecoworks polyolefin backed carpet, screened through the McDonough Braungart cradle-to-cradle toxicity protocol. Several window treatment manufacturers (including Nysan, Lutron and Mecho) have also introduced PVC-free systems and a host of upholstery products have already been introduced in the last year to replace PVC. Two of the largest wall protection manufacturers (Construction Specialties and InPro) released new PVC-free rail and wall guard systems, and Herman Miller eliminated PVC in the Mirra, its latest eco-friendly office chair. C&A's ethos carpet is made with a PVB (polyvinyl butyral) backing, a chlorine-free material that is recovered from PVB laminate in safety glass. The C&A carpet backing is made from nearly 100% post consumer recycled product, which can be recycled into more carpet backing at the eventual end of its life. "C&A's new PVC-free carpet and Shaw's commitment to stop production of PVC carpet are encouraging signals that manufacturers are responding to customers' increasing concern with the environmental health impact of their products," said Lent.
For a more thorough listing of PVC alternative products, refer to HBN's PVC-free alternatives database at: http://www.healthybuilding.net/pvc/alternatives.html Refer to HBN's "Sorting Out the Vinyls: When is "Vinyl" Not PVC?" to distinguish PVC from the other vinyls (PVA, PVB and EVA) http://www.healthybuilding.net/pvc/SortingOutVinyls.html
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