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Print ArticleAccording to Chris Bailey, particleboard sales manager for Collins, “This partnership with TPL offers customers the first particleboard in North America that uses a melamine-based resin as opposed to a phenol-based resin. The thermally-fused melamine panels from TPL are FSC-certified and are available for LEED credits from the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program.”
Pat McNeal, president of TPL, adds, “We are proud to be FSC-certified and to work hand-in-hand with our partners; Collins Products, Arclin and Schattdecor. We believe Collins Pine FreeForm Plus is a unique creation that gives our customers the ultimate in beauty, durability, economy and, at the same time, addresses the needs of our environment. After all, we are all stewards of this earth.”
Arclin, a leading provider of bonding and surface solutions, has recently unveiled their E-Gen™ designation, establishing an environmentally sustainable standard for their business and creating stringent performance-based criteria for an array of their products. “Select resin systems and overlays are marketed under the name E-Gen™ and offer manufacturers the sense of well-being that comes from using these technically advanced and eco-responsible products,” explained Kevin Griffin, Arclin’s director of marketing and communications. He went on to say that “Architects, builders, designers, and contractors now have the opportunity to pursue markets previously off limits due to increased environmental restrictions. And they can qualify for various environmental certifications such as the LEED rating system.” Arclin’s decorative melamine overlays have also received the GREENGUARD Certification for Children & Schools.
Schattdecor, an international decor printing company, has, since its inception in 1985, been recognized for its commitment to printing only with water-based inks. Since this process eliminates the use of heavy metals, Schaltdecor joins the other TPL partners in bringing the market a product that is “actually green and not green-washed,” remarked McNeal. “Look at it this way,” said Tom Drazen of Schattdecor. “You can either use forests of an endangered species, such as mahogany, or you can buy a 20 square foot piece of that material, photograph it, print it onto paper, then have TPL laminate it. With this method you can reproduce the feel and look of mahogany thousands of times and use only 20 square feet of actual mahogany. Combine that kind of stewardship with water-based inks and you have created a truly sustainable product.”
Pat McNeal goes on to say, “With so much distrust by consumers today (and justifiably so), we want our customers to know exactly what’s in the products they are buying. That’s why Collins Pine FreeForm Plus is manufactured by a group of partners who have been independently certified, resulting in high quality, thermally-fused laminates. Wholesale distributors and OEM manufacturers have had requests for this new product from hospitals, schools, senior living centers, government installations, as well as environmentally conscious homeowners.” FreeForm Plus has a variety of applications from office furniture, cabinets, bookcases and shelves to home kitchens, closets, built-ins, bathrooms, and garage organizers. McNeal concludes, “This FSC and LEED-credit melamine can be manufactured to fit a customer’s exact needs, not only in how it looks, but where it goes.”
“Collins isn’t new to the business of creating innovative materials for the green marketplace. As a matter of fact, we were the first privately-owned forest products company in the United States to be independently certified through the FSC,” commented Bailey. All three of Collins’ forests are FSC-certified, including the Collins Almanor Forest in Chester, California; the Collins Lakeview Forest in Lakeview, Oregon; and the Collins Pennsylvania Forest in Kane, Pennsylvania.
“For a family-owned company that began operations in 1855, being a leader seems pretty natural,” continued Bailey. Collins markets their FSC-certified products under the name CollinsWood. They are manufactured at their softwood mills in Chester, CA and Lakeview, OR; their hardwood mills in Kane, PA and Richwood, WV; and their particleboard and TruWood Siding & Trim mills in Klamath Falls, OR. In addition, Collins operates four retail building material supply stores in northern California.
