REHAU’s success in the world of interiors began over 50 years ago with the furniture edgeband. And since its launch, the RAUKANTEX edgeband has played a pioneering role, as it still does today. The company is demonstrating this once again at SICAM 2023. With its laser edgeband, a focus on sustainability, a folding edgeband version and RAUKANTEX pigmento, the edgeband for frameless looks. Despite all the innovations, one thing has not changed for half a century: REHAU solutions make furniture more durable and more visually appealing, while making customers’ lives easier – true to the company’s motto ‘Engineering progress. Enhancing lives.’ RAUKANTEX’s development is a history of innovation.

Edgebands for every panel collection

The basic idea of the edgeband was to make the cut edges of the then new chipboard invisible. New panels brought different edgeband requirements – and the variety of surfaces still determines RAUKANTEX’s collection development today. The most recent examples of its collection development include the edgebands for the Swiss Krono One World Global Collection 2023. This collection by the Swiss family firm combines the design worlds of The MESHED, Responsive Furniture, Playful Spaces and Conscious Home, offering endless design possibilities. Living spaces are a multi-sensory experience and REHAU has the edgebands for them: the RAUKANTEX Express Collection features 88 different edgeband designs that are immediately available from stock in all common dimensions. REHAU also offers matching edgebands for the Innovus 2023 Collection by Sonae Arauco – made in Germany. The Innovus Collection showcases materials for life’s special moments. It includes around 40 new decors, including plain, fantasy and stone decors, as well as natural woods. Also newly launched: Soft Clean, a surface texture with a fine grain structure and improved gloss level. Another new addition: SLK – Silk – a laminate with anti-fingerprint effect and a soft feel. REHAU implements both the decors and the textures in its matching edgeband collection – once again proving to be the perfect partner for the surface manufacturer.

Edgeband innovations: RAUKANTEX pigmento, lumina and folding

REHAU has also made some changes to its own range. The company is presenting three new products at SICAM. With RAUKANTEX pigmento, REHAU is embracing the trend toward structured surfaces. Be it ceramics, concrete or stone – the demand for materials with vibrant textures for kitchens and living rooms continues unabated. Thanks to an innovative formula, the edgeband can reflect a wide range of these tactile and visual qualities, creating structures in the chamfered area, and it protects the furniture components from impact damage. This ensures that the components can also withstand the rigors of everyday use. RAUKANTEX folding follows the trend toward harmonious front panel solutions, individuality and modern interior design. This edgeband is made from polypropylene that can be shaped in various ways as part of the soft-forming process or angled edgebanding, allowing unique, handleless front panels to be created without any quality issues, such as paint cracks or stress whitening, for example.

The possibilities of the filigree side-panel construction are also manifold. The result: durable, extremely robust components with ideal cleaning properties. The folding process – without previously carving the edgeband – is already state-of-the-art in the door industry. The fourth dimension in interior design is light – and the RAUKANTEX lumina 3D edgeband creates wonderful lighting effects that make components shine. These edgebands feature special luminescent pigments. When exposed to UV or artificial light, these pigments absorb light, convert it through the edgeband and emit the light into the room. This creates a wonderful light effect, entirely without power connection or batteries. The edgeband is perfect for bars, sideboards or shelving.

Sustainable products and processes

In addition to new products, the trade fair will also focus on sustainability. REHAU has a clearly defined roadmap for the recycling-oriented products in its Interior Solutions Division. The aim is to increase the proportion of recycled materials used while continuing to find alternative raw materials and increase the use of renewable energy sources globally. Since 2020, production in all its European edgeband plants has been 100 per cent powered by renewable energy sources, and solar parks are currently being built at many of its European factory sites, allowing them to be operated with an autonomous power supply.

In the case of RAUKANTEX eco, the edgeband consists of 50% post-industrial recyclates in the base material. RAUKANTEX evo adopts a different approach. Unlike traditional edgebands made of polypropylene, this edgeband uses a mass-balanced PP based on non-fossil primary raw materials. The edgeband is ISCC PLUS certified. This certificate provides clear evidence along the entire value chain that strict ISCC PLUS sustainability requirements are met during production. And REHAU has also taken a major step toward a circular economy in the edgeband sector, namely its edgeband returns concept. Both RAUKANTEX edgebands and unprocessed edgebands from other manufacturers can be recycled in the REHAU product program, subject to agreement.

All the information about RAUKANTEX furniture edgebands is available here