Kickstart: No rest for the mattress business

About a week ago, I wrote about how Purple Innovation Inc. is building a plant near Atlanta to make its urethane-based foam mattresses.

Now one of its competitors, China-based Healthcare Co. Ltd., which sells the Mlily-brand "memory foam" mattresses, announced it has leased nearly 650,000 square feet of manufacturing space near Phoenix for its second U.S. factory.

It expects to employ 300 in Arizona. The Phoenix site joins another Mlily plant in Winnsboro, S.C., that opened in late 2019.

It's a booming year for mattresses, with imports to the U.S. up 39 percent in the first six months of 2020 to 8.8 million mattresses, according to our sister publication Urethanes Technology International. Production of those mattresses has been shifting away from China to regions such as Vietnam, Malaysia and Cambodia in addition to new production in the U.S.

Purple Innovation, based in Lehi, Utah, said its sales climbed 54 percent in the first half of 2020.

Why all the growth? Most likely, the coronavirus pandemic. With travel plans canceled, people are staying home and putting their vacation dollars into items like decks, pools and beds instead.

The call to use more recycled plastics is coming from inside the house (metaphorically speaking). On Aug. 17, the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries announced a new official position on minimum recycled plastic content that it says will encourage more use of recycled plastics.

That includes support for "legislation that expands the use of recycled plastic in applications that are appropriate, noting these levels will vary by application and type of plastic."

It also backs moves by manufacturers to increase their use of recycled plastics beyond any legislative targets, work that includes "design for recycling" initiatives, public education efforts and life cycle assessment.

"Plastics are a diverse, versatile group of materials that are used in nearly all aspects of daily life, from lifesaving medical supplies to lightweight food packaging," ISRI wrote in a news release. "However, despite the benefits plastics offer, many remained concerned about high levels of plastic waste entering the natural environment. To avoid further environmental harm, it is imperative that all plastics be handled responsibly at end of life."

It's been a rough couple of weeks for Formosa Plastics Corp. USA, especially its Point Comfort, Texas, plant.

First, unexpected production issues at the site were part of a force majuere limit on polypropylene sales. Now problems with PVC production at both Point Comfort and Baton Rouge, La., have led Formosa to limit sales of that material, too.

The company didn't provide any details on what those problems have been.

Expect Formosa to come up as part of the Polymer Points Live webcast at 2 p.m. Eastern today with Senior Reporter Frank Esposito and Editor Don Loepp, available exclusively to Plastics News subscribers. Click here for more information.