Frequently Asked Questions

Polypropylene is a widely used plastic. You likely have polypropylene plastic in your fridge and cupboards right now: it’s regularly used in reusable food storage containers. It’s also the resin used to make yogurt containers and other single-serving tubs.

PP plastics are approved for food contact. They are inert materials and do not present a health hazard to the consumers. The FDA began to approve recycled polypropylene as food-safe in 2013.

Polypropylene’s high melting point makes it suitable for microwaveable food containers. It’s nonvolatile and doesn’t react to liquids, acids, or bases, so it’s perfect to store a wide variety of foods.

Over the past few decades, Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) plastic, commonly known as "vinyl," has become one of the most widely-used types of plastics. We find it all around us: in packaging, home furnishings, children's toys, automobile parts, building materials, hospital supplies, and hundreds of other products. Its advantages are that it is highly versatile and relatively inexpensive. But the price we pay for a low-cost and seemingly harmless piece of PVC pipe or soft vinyl toy is far steeper than it may at first appear.

In fact, this commonplace plastic is one of the biggest contributors to the flood of toxic substances saturating our planet and its inhabitants. PVC contaminates humans and the environment throughout its lifecycle during its production, use and disposal. While all plastics pose serious threats to human health and the environment, few consumers realize that PVC is the single most environmentally damaging of all plastics. Since safer alternatives are available for virtually all uses of PVC, it is possible to protect human health and the environment by replacing and eventually phasing out this poison plastic.

PVC production is the largest and fastest-growing use of CHLORINE-- accounting for nearly 40 percent of all chlorine used in the United States. Chlorine is the basic building block of our most infamous toxic problems: CFCs which destroyed the ozone layer, the dioxin contamination at Love Canal and Times Beach, Agent Orange, PCBs and DDT pesticides. Hundreds of chlorine-based toxins are building up in the air, water and food chain. Many of these chemicals, called organochlorines, are resistant to breakdown and will remain in the environment for decades to come. Scientific studies reveal that these chemicals are linked to severe and wide-spread health problems, including infertility, immune system damage, impaired childhood development, hormone disruption, cancer and many other harmful effects.

Due to the chemical structure of organochlorines, humans and animals are unable to efficiently expel them from their bodies. Instead, many of these compounds accumulate in fatty tissue, resulting in contamination levels thousands or millions of times greater than is found in the surrounding environment. No one can escape contamination; every one of us has measurable amounts of chlorinated toxins in our bodies. And some organochlorines can impact on human life before birth, during the most delicate stages of development -- a disastrous toxic legacy for future generations.

Dioxin and dioxin-likecompounds are unintentionally created whenever chlorine-based chemicals are produced, used or burned. Evidence suggests that, throughout its entire lifecycle, PVC is responsible for a greater share of the nation's annual dioxin burden than any other industrial product. Large amounts of dioxin are produced during the various stages of PVC production, and the abundance of PVC items in medical waste and garbage is one reason incinerators are considered the largest sources of dioxins. Thousands of accidental fires in buildings containing PVC result in releases of dioxin in ash and soot, contaminating both the environment and the affected building.

Dioxin is known as one of the most toxic chemicals ever produced. In its ongoing study of dioxin, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) suggests that there is no safe level of dioxin exposure. Thus any dose, no matter how low, can result in severe health damage. The EPA has also concluded that the levels of dioxin currently found in most adults and children are already high enough to present significant health threats to the American public.

In order to get the best out of the non-slip functionality, we suggest wiping both sides of your ecopeco® cutting mat with a damp cloth to keep it clean. More stubborn dirt can be removed with a damp cloth and liquid soap.

Please store your mat in a space that allows the mat to lie flat.  This will help keep your ecopeco® cutting mat flat and in the best possible condition for your needs.

Don’t wipe your ecopeco® cutting mat with alcohol, formaldehyde, or any other chemical cleaner. This may cause the printed lines on your mat to fade.

Don’t store your ecopeco® cutting mat rolled up. This will lead to warping and result in an uneven cutting surface. 

Don’t expose your ecopeco® cutting mat to high temperatures such as next to a window in direct sunlight all day or in a hot car. All ecopeco® cutting mats are made of safe materials. Even if it burns, it will not emit toxic fumes. Exposure to high temperatures can however, cause deformation and damage.

Don'tuse any oils on the mat as this will cause the lines to fade.

At ecopeco® your wellbeing is our first priority. If we were not able to prioritize your health in making ecopeco® cutting mats, we wouldn’t make them. Simple. We have every confidence in our products and believe that you will too. The fact remains however, that there will be times when products need replacing. Should you have a claim under our warranty policy, please read below to ensure that your claim falls within the coverage the ecopeco® Warranty offers.

Cutting Mats

Our commitment to your health is realized through our choice of materials. While most cutting mats are made from PVC, ecopeco® cutting mats are made from a unique combination of 100% recyclable, food and medical grade materials.

Cutting mats constructed from PVC undergo a softening process, which entails the use of toxic chemicals (plasticizers) that leave these mats with an unpleasant odor and can result in off-gassing (and absorption through the skin) of extremely harmful phthalates.

Because ecopeco® cutting mats are not made from PVC, plasticizers are not used at any time during the production process. ecopeco®’s unique combination of compounds results in a self healing cutting mat free from PVC and phthalates.

As a consequence of our commitment to your health and wellbeing, your experience using an ecopeco® cutting mat will be different to your experience with any cutting mat you’ve used before.  

Lifetime Warranty:

ecopeco® cutting mats are used by leading artisans and crafters around the world, across various disciplines, including quilting, sewing, leather work, wood work, quilling, lettering and more. Even so, a cutting mat that offers eco-friendly, non-toxic, self healing functionality is not impenetrable. With enough force, permanent cut marks can be made, and this is beyond our control. We have however, performed extensive in-house and independent testing to ensure that our cutting mats:

-Meet or exceed quality and performance standards

-Are 100% recyclable and are PVC, BPA and phthalate free

If your ecopeco® product does not function according to its intended purpose, under normal use, due to manufacturer defect, the product will be replaced at the discretion of ecopeco®.

Note: Warranties do not cover:

-Normal wear and tear

-Incorrect usage

-Damage or failure caused by neglect, misuse, abuse or accident

-Damage to products used in conjunction with ecopeco® products

Should you wish to pursue a claim, please contact the retailer where you bought your product, along with proof of purchase. If you purchased your mat directly from ecopeco®, please contact support@ecopeco.art.

- How long will it take for my order to ship and arrive?
Upon authorization of your credit card, an order confirmation will be sent to the email address you have specified. A shipping confirmation will then be sent to that same email address upon shipment of your order. Most in stock orders are shipped within three (3) business days of being placed. Delivery can take between 7–14 business days depending on location. Orders are shipped from our HQ's in Taiwan using an international courier. A tracking number will be provided the shipment confirmation email.

- Payment Options
We accept Visa, MasterCard and PayPal. All prices are listed in US Dollars.

- Safe Shopping Guarantee
We aim to provide you with a safe and convenient shopping experience. Our shopping cart and checkout process uses Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) technology, the approved industry standard, to safeguard your financial information and transactions.