Carpenter Co. Adopts Cargill’s Recyclable Foam for Renew Line

October 9, 2008  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in Upholstery on October 2008 Carpenter Co., the largest manufacturer of comfort cushioning in the world, has formally introduced the Renew brand of foam cushioning made with Cargill’s soy-based BiOH polyols. Renew products are fully recyclable and available in a wide assortment of firmness and densities, including the first bio-based high resiliency foam.

“We are already selling Renew foam to major names in the furniture industry such as the La-Z-Boy brand, and we are beginning to work with bedding manufacturers as well,” said Carpenter President Stan Yukevich. “We chose Cargill’s BiOH polyols for their unique and proprietary soybean oil technology, which allows us to produce consistent quality without sacrificing consumer comfort and without the need for our customers to reengineer their processes. It’s no surprise that it’s already proving to be a popular option.”

Derived from natural vegetable oils such as soybean oil, BiOH polyols help flexible polyurethane foam manufacturers reduce their environmental footprint and market their choice to downstream customers. Manufacturers are currently applying the technology to make new products for bedding, furniture and automotive uses. Customers include some of the biggest names in those industries.

“We’re thrilled to team up with Carpenter to bring technologically superior biobased cushioning to the global market in a big way,” said Yusuf Wazirzada, business unit leader of Cargill Biobased Polyurethanes. “This is a major milestone in a journey that started for us as a research project only four years ago and is quickly expanding to global manufacturing and distribution.”

Cargill has made significant investment in BiOH polyols technology. In 2007, the company announced the opening of a $5.5 million polyols research and development facility. More recently, Cargill announced that it was scaling up its manufacturing capabilities with construction of a $22 million BiOH polyol plant in Chicago to meet growing demand. Though not expected to be fully operational until November, initial production batches were made in early September.