The owners, officers and managers of Hickory Springs Manufacturing Company, headquartered in Hickory, NC, take the Company’s position as a leader in the flexible polyurethane industry seriously. Expenditures in manpower and capital necessary to comply with applicable local, state and federal environmental regulations demand a significant portion of the Company’s operating budget. At every plant location, Hickory Springs works hard to be a good, responsible neighbor.

Innovation and improvement are keys to success. Unlike many foam competitors, who rely on suppliers for advancements in foam technology, Hickory Springs fully staffs a Foam Technology Department. This team of experienced chemists, engineers and technicians has a primary function of research. Hickory Springs will continue to endeavor to discover and develop new foams and processes well into the 21st century and beyond.

Hickory Springs follows the philosophy of continuous improvement in all areas of its business operations. Environmental corporate stewardship is no exception.

Hickory Springs - First Bio-based Foam

In 2005 Hickory Springs Manufacturing Company, producer of flexible polyurethane foam for the furniture, bedding and other industries, announced the introduction of a breakthrough foam product that reduced reliance worldwide on non-renewable petrochemical resources in foam manufacture.

Based in Hickory, NC, the 67-year-old privately-held business has devoted over 50 years to creating new foam products. Hickory Springs’ extensive research and development has a history of innovation, including fire retardant Code*Red foams and a line of value-added high resilience EnduroPlush® foams. The Company’s six foam plants were among the first in the nation to eliminate the use of CFCs and methylene chloride as auxiliary blowing agents. Based on human health concerns, Hickory Springs was also an industry leader in the elimination of PBDE fire retardants.

Hickory Springs' latest development came at a time of rising petroleum prices and concerns about raw material availability. This new product marked the Company's first foray into the creation of a flexible polyurethane foam that replaces a portion of its petrochemical-based ingredients with a reactive material made from a sustainable, renewable resource, while providing cushioning that is comparable, if not better, in terms of quality and performance, to oil-based foam formulas on the market today.

The product, which features a basic raw material derived from a patented process, is marketed under the trade name of “Preserve®”. The name is a nod towards the foam’s reduced reliance on petroleum.

Vice President of Foam and Environmental Technology Bobby Bush sees this innovation as part of a larger responsibility both for Hickory Springs and the industry in general. “Our goal is to find new uses for resources and to avoid the waste that has been part of our industry’s history. Not only is Preserve, which incorporates bio-based polyol as an active ingredient, an attempt to lessen our dependence on oil, it is also an opportunity to steer our industry's thinking away from its short term mindset. This gesture may be small in impact, but we feel that Preserve is the initial step in what should be an arduous but fruitful move by the foam industry away from dependence on a product in short supply.”

While the concept of implementing renewable bio-based products into foam formulas is not new, this product has remained tantalizingly out of reach due to constraints in both economy and technology. With the introduction of Preserve, Hickory Springs became the first slabstock foam manufacturer in the world to commercialize flexible polyurethane foam made, in part, with a renewable resource. According to Director of Marketing and R&D Dimitrios Dounis, Preserve resulted from "significant innovation and break-through advancements in this technology. We have now taken a major step toward positioning our industry for sustainable growth. This new process and product allows us to remain ahead of rising threats to our industry.”

Hickory Springs has successfully replaced up to 30% of foam's petrochemical-derived polyol with a bio-based polyol made from soy beans. At this level there is no degradation of foam physical properties and, in fact, some of foam's performance characteristics are improved.

Flexible polyurethane foam is the reaction of three basic ingredients. Two are derived from oil: polyol comprises about 60% of the foam recipe; TDI makes up about 30%. Though small in content at 2% to 4%, water is a very important ingredient. The remaining materials, used in relatively small quantities, consist of surfactants, catalysts and fire retardants, if required.

Hickory Springs’ new Preserve foam uses soy-based polyol at the rate of up to 30% of total polyol. That represents as much as 20% of total foam chemistry. Work continues with the existing bio-based polyol, and in the development of next-generation polyols, to increase bio-polyol content level.

While we are excited about what this means for Hickory Springs, we are especially excited for our customers. Preserve foams provide improved stability (in supply and pricing), comfort, durability and a great marketing story.


NO CFCs
NO METHYLENE CHLORIDE

Hickory Springs pioneered the application of acetone as an alternative auxiliary blowing agent (ABA) in the production of flexible polyurethane foam. Previously, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), 1,1,1-trichloroethane and methylene chloride served as ABAs to the US foam industry. Hickory Springs began work to eliminate methylene chloride from its foam formulation over 20 years ago.

With some foresight, Hickory Springs’ Technical Director, the late Graham Walmsley, discovered and developed the use of acetone as an ABA in 1989. Hickory Springs completed the necessary alterations at its foam plant in North Carolina and began full-scale trials the following year. This plant began using acetone in 1990 and has been completely reliant on acetone as its only ABA since 1996. Meanwhile, Hickory Springs retrofitted its other foam production plants and, as of early 1998, has utilized acetone as its sole ABA corporate-wide. Hickory Springs uses NO methylene chloride (a suspected carcinogen), NO ozone-depleting 1,1,1-trichloroethane and NO ozone-depleting CFCs in the production of flexible polyurethane foam. Hickory Springs holds patents involving the use of acetone in flexible polyurethane foam production. More recently, the use of liquid carbon dioxide as an ABA has been added to the Company’s pouring capability.

Internationally, Hickory Springs has cooperated with consultants hired by the United Nations to assist Third World countries’ cessation of CFC use in the production of flexible polyurethane foam. According to anecdotal evidence only, the use of CFC is common in foam product in China and other Asian countries where the black market for CFCs thrives.


PBDEs

Hickory Springs was the first US foam company to eliminate the use of fire retardants containing pentabromodiphenyl ether and octabromodiphenyl (collectively known as PBDEs). Intra-company research to identify viable alternatives began in earnest in mid-2003 and culminated with the November 2004 announcement that Hickory Springs was PBDE-free corporate-wide. (Deca-BDE has never been used to produce flexible polyurethane foam).

Based on alarming studies of bioaccumulation in human tissue and negative reports from the European Community, Hickory Springs initiated its own review of PBDE findings and set a goal to remove this product, which had been the industry’s workhorse fire retardant since the mid-1980s. An article that appeared in the LA Times in October 2003 highlighted this effort (see link) and further illustrated Hickory Springs’ role as an industry leader.

CertiPUR-US

Hickory Springs was the first domestic foam producer to qualify foam for the CertiPUR-US program. The CertiPUR-US certification process involves intense foam assessment, including VOC testing and chemical breakdown analysis. It also involves signed affirmation that CertiPUR-US-prohibited ingredients, such as ozone-depleting CFCs, PBDE fire retardants, lead, mercury and other materials of concern, are not being utilized in the foaming process.

Hickory Springs is one of several founding members of the CertiPUR-US program, which was officially introduced by the Polyurethane Foam Association in 2007 and is now operated by the Alliance of Flexible Polyurethane Foam, Inc. (AFPF), of which Hickory Springs VP Bobby Bush is chairman.

“We see this as the foam industry’s best route for the future,” says Bush. With guidance from a diverse AFPF Advisory Panel, CertiPUR-US will remain “vital, adjusting to new concerns and incorporating developing science in every aspect of foam and the foaming process.” He continues, “I’m excited about the possibilities. This program not only levels the field, no matter where the foam is produced, but it also establishes a level of verified quality control and product safety that the industry has never had before. By complying with this voluntary program, we can confirm to customers and consumers that we have taken proactive measures to verify that our foam not only provides durable comfort but is produced in a responsible, user-friendly manner.”

For more information on CertiPUR-US, please visit www.certipur.us