The North American chapter of a flame retardants trade group has a new member and is working to recruit materials firms to its ranks.
Japanese specialty chemicals maker Adeka Corp. joined the North American arm of the Phosphorus, Inorganic and Nitrogen Flame Retardants Association (Pinfa) in 2014. In North America, Adeka is represented by Amfine Chemical Corp., a joint venture between Adeka and Mitsubishi Corp. Amfine is based in Upper Saddle River, N.J.
The addition of Adeka now gives Pinfa-North America eight members, including FRX Polymers, Clariant Additives, PolyOne Corp. and A. Schulman Inc. The group — founded in early 2013 — now is trying to attract materials firms that already belong to Pinfa in Europe, spokeswoman Maggie Baumann said in a recent phone interview.
“We believe flame retardant additives are necessary for the safety of the public, but we also believe that human health doesn't need to be compromised,” she said while explaining the group's mission.
Pinfa-NA held its third annual industry workshop and conference April 15-16 in Tampa, Fla. This year's event was focused on flammability requirements for commercial building and construction. The event was co-sponsored by the National Pollution Prevention Roundtable and the Washington State Department of Ecology. It featured presentations from the U.S. Green Building Council, Eastman Chemical Co., Underwriters Laboratories, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Dow Chemical Co.'s Dow Building Solutions unit.
The group also exhibited at the NPE 2015 trade show in Orlando in March and co-sponsored a technical session at Antec, also at NPE 2015.
“The organization is dedicated to more sustainable flame retardant solutions,” Baumann said. “Our members don't produce flame retardant additive products with halogens.”
Pinfa-NA's eight members include flame retardant manufacturers, synergist producers and compounders/formulators. The group recently introduced a professional member category for consultants, academics and not-for-profit organizations.
