{"id":14225,"date":"2023-05-10T06:05:39","date_gmt":"2023-05-10T12:05:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ulprospector.com\/knowledge\/?p=14225"},"modified":"2023-07-14T09:46:13","modified_gmt":"2023-07-14T15:46:13","slug":"pc-sustainability-trends-at-the-european-coatings-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ulprospector.ul.com\/14225\/pc-sustainability-trends-at-the-european-coatings-show\/","title":{"rendered":"Sustainability Trends at the European Coatings Show"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"After 4 years, with an involuntary break due to COVID-19, the coatings world gathers again at the ECS in N\u00fcrnberg (Germany). The place where visitors and exhibitors connect and the newest innovations are presented and new products are launched to the world.<\/p>\n

Walking across the exhibition floor the outstanding topic is sustainability. Where in past years the focus in paints and coatings was mainly VOC reduction and the use of more environmentally friendly raw materials this is now further expanding into energy and resource conservation, waste minimization, process efficiency enhancement and use of biobased and renewable raw materials.\u00a0The overall main driver is legislation and environmental impact combined with changing end-user requirements. Products are being produced in a more environmentally friendly way, using biobased and renewable resources.<\/p>\n

In the coatings formulation, the trend here is towards high solids, ultra-high solids and also solvent-free powder coatings. There is still a strong shift away from solvent-based due to their non-sustainable nature.<\/p>\n

Coating methods<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\nBenefit<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Powder coatings<\/strong><\/td>\n–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 No solvents,<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Negligible VOC emitting<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

High solids coatings (>65%)<\/strong><\/td>\n–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Low VOC emitting<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
UV\/EB cure coatings<\/strong><\/td>\n–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rapid drying time,<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Low energy consumption (hence less energy cost),<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Fewer VOC emissions<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

Waterborne Coatings<\/strong><\/td>\n–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Low VOC content,<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Less toxicity and flammability<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

<\/h2>\n

Raw materials<\/h2>\n

Next to the type of coatings, the efficient use of raw materials and the sourcing of raw materials has become more important. One major topic in paint formulation in recent years has been the use of TiO2<\/sub>. Due to increasing regulations, due to health concerns, and global availability the reduction in TiO2<\/sub> has been the focus of formulators.<\/p>\n

Development in raw materials such as SIPERNAT\u00ae 820 A<\/a> (Evonik<\/a>), presented at the ECS, works as a TiO2<\/sub> spacer and gives good opacity. Where raw materials such as ChameleoBoost (OMYA) work as a (partial) replacement of TiO2<\/sub>. Holcopearl (Holland colors), uses encapsulation of the TiO2<\/sub> pigment in order to prevent dust and increase the ease of dispersion in solvent-based coatings.<\/p>\n

Biobased vs renewable<\/h2>\n

Increasing the biobased content of raw materials is a main target of formulators. Different from bio-sourced, biobased content is determined according to the 14<\/sup>C\/12<\/sup>C or\u00a014<\/sup>C\/13<\/sup>C content relative to a carbon-based modern reference material following ASTM D6866-221<\/sup>, using AMS along with Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry (IRMS) techniques to quantify the biobased content of a given product.<\/p>\n

Examples seen at ECS are:<\/p>\n