On 4 April, the newOn 4 April, the new Catas Point Pesaro was officially inaugurated at the offices of Manifaktura, the laboratory's partner. For the occasion, Catas, the most important European laboratory for testing in the wood and furniture sector, organised the first workshop entitled 'Formaldehyde and volatile organic substances: the rules of the furniture market'.
 

Franco Bulian, director of the Catas laboratory, explained that this "is only the first of the many appointments we have scheduled for this year in Pesaro and in our headquarters in Brianza, Lissone. The end of the health emergency has allowed us to finally kick off a project that aims to bring Catas ever closer to companies and places where we can offer our experience and expertise'.
 

A constantly developing legislative and regulatory environment

The event was attended by many companies from the Pesaro district who showed great interest in the topics discussed, given the important developments affecting this delicate subject presented by Catas experts.

Norms, laws and regulations today increasingly focus attention on the effects of emissions of volatile substances: in addition to formaldehyde, we have to deal with numerous other substances, natural and otherwise, and with an evolving legislative and regulatory environment.
A proposal to revise Europe's legal limits for formaldehyde and the publication of the first-ever technical standard that classifies furniture materials according to their emission of volatile organic substances (the Italian UNI 11896 standard, published last January) is recent. Other important changes have also recently come into force for the North American markets, with Canada at the forefront.
 

Events scheduled in the coming months

The seminar marked the start of Catas Point Pesaro's activities in the Marche region, offering an immediate outline of the technical contents that it intends to develop in the future. Other events have already been scheduled for the coming months dedicated, in particular, to the delicate topic of container furniture safety, in the light of the new and strict directives coming from the United States, and reaction to fire, a topic that has always involved operators in the sector.

As a result of the interest shown by several companies on the topics of painting and gluing, Catas plans to schedule ad hoc courses and initiatives on these topics, even within the production companies themselves.