Bene Office Furniture

PURE AIR

Bene does not just ensure good air in offices.

Gluing, bonding, veneering

Today, pure air prevails where previously the smells of materials and work processes filled the air. The benefits of lower emission levels and new surface treatments are encapsulated in the T-platform. As stipulated by European standards, only low formaldehyde Class E1 boards are used in Bene office furniture. This standard states that wooden boards must not emit more than 0.1 ppm formaldehyde in interior spaces. Environmentally friendly low formaldehyde (<0.2 % formaldehyde) glues are also used. Furthermore, Bene furniture coatings do not contain any CMR substances (carcinogenic, mutagenic or reproduction toxic).

Metalworking

Most of the metal parts we use are already mechanically machine finished and coated when we buy them. Aluminium and steel profiles are processed by machine, producing chips. These chips and cuttings are carefully separated so that they can be sent on to an external scrap metal recycler.

Cuttings are optimised here also: By defining an ideal material length we ensure that minimal waste is generated in production.

Surface Finishing

Bene almost exclusively uses water-based varnishes and stains for surface finishing (>98%). By working together with varnish suppliers in an intensive optimisation effort, Bene was able to reduce solvent content from an average of 7.2% to 5.9% over the last five years. The VOC share (Volatile Organic Compounds) of the primary varnish was reduced to 3.5% in FY 2008/09. This will significantly reduce the average solvent content in next year as well! The remainder (<2%) are spray varnishes, renovation materials and special varnishes for maintenance. These have an average VOC content of approximately 70%.

The spray gun is has a varnish recovery unit attached to it. The excess varnish is removed from the transport belt with a ring doctor blade and prepared for re-use by cleaning and filter stations. This method allows us to recover a total of 30% of the varnish material used and to achieve an overall usage rate of more than 95%.

The use of spray pistols with low atomised spray and the optimum conditioning of the varnish materials ensure a uniform varnish surface and prevent varnish dust from building up. Only UV-hardening water varnishes, water-soluble coloured acrylic varnishes and water-based stains are used. After coating, the varnish is dried in a vertical drier and hardened using UV equipment.

Several applications of varnish with intermediate sanding complete the varnishing process; with our special hardening technique they are immediately hard enough to use.

The switch of varnishing process to water-soluble UV-hardening varnishes and stains resulted in a considerable improvement of surface quality. Emission values of Bene furniture surfaces are well below the required guideline values (TVOC values).

An examination of varnished Bene products by the WKI Fraunhofer Institute in Braunschweig (Germany) showed that the recommended TVOC value is attained as early as 31 hours after varnishing. The residual solvent escapes during the production process before the furniture parts are packaged. After 16 days, the levels are even 96% below the threshold.

By using water-based varnishes instead of solvent-based varnishes, several hundred fewer tons of solvent have been used since switching to the new process (taking into consideration the product quantities). In the last five years alone, almost 180 tons of solvent have been saved (a savings of approx. 90%).