Plastic greenhouse operations usually have a packing hall storage unit that is built with the same material as the greenhouse; a polyhouse structure with plastic coverings. Due to the stricter European standard for fire prevention inside packing halls and farm storage, growers are now urged to make these packing halls flame retardant.
Tom de Smedt of RKW Hyplast: "Flame retardant properties are becoming very important in European horticulture as the rules and policies become stricter every year. You also see that with the manufacturers of climate screens; they also focus on the development of flame retardant products. We believe that in the near future the rules will become stricter."
De Smedt explained that most of the larger greenhouse fires are usually caused by a small fire started inside the sheds that have the same plastic cover material like the greenhouse. For this reason they have been working with their technicians at their R&D department to built a flame retardant film.
The result of Hyplast is a Class-B1 flame retardant Hytithermic film. "The Hytithermic is one much used film in Europe. It is a polyethylene film that has excellent energy saving characteristics to keep the crop warm at night and therefore much used by greenhouse growers in colder climates. The FR Hytithermic film is based on a unique Hyplast patented technology that combines the excellent film properties with environmentally friendly flame retardant additives that contain no halogens."
The FR Hytithermic is B1 certified according to Norm DIN 4102-part1
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