International Coatings Scene
EUROPE
BY SEAN MILMO
EUROPEAN CORRESPONDENT
MILMOCW@RODPUB.COM
Sustaining future growth
Sustainability
is becoming
a necessity
to satisfy the
requirements
of paint
producers’
customers.
Sustainability remains a major objec- tive of Europe’s coatings sector despite the slow economic recovery in
the region. In fact, the recession and its
aftermath have bolstered the momentum
behind sustainability initiatives in the sector rather than hamper them.
A lot of the environmental measures taken
by coatings producers over the last few
years, such as the formulation of paints with
lower levels of volatile organic compounds
(VOCs), have been driven by legislation.
There had been predictions than once regulations like the EU’s directive limiting the
VOC content of decorative paints came fully
into effect early this year sustainability would
be given a lower profile in the industry.
Coatings companies, however, particularly
large ones with prominent brands in the decorative sector, are taking a variety of steps
like streamlining packaging, reducing waste,
preventing paint residue from contaminating water and, above all, cutting their carbon
footprints.
Also they have been introducing coatings
products, equipment and services, which
help reduce energy consumption down the
supply chain.
A lot of the impetus is coming from the need
to protect the environment but also to reduce
costs at a time when most European countries
seem to be struggling to expand their economies
after the financial meltdown of 2008.
“Companies in the coatings supply chain
are seeing sustainability as an opportunity
during a time of slow economic growth
because it is a way of cutting costs while also
being innovative,” said Chris Sherwin, head
of innovation at Forum for the Future, a UK-based sustainability organization which has
been doing advisory work for AkzoNobel’s
decorative paints business.
“It is a way of improving efficiency,” he said.
“Some companies argue that because of cur-
rent economic conditions they cannot afford to
introduce sustainability measures, but they
are making a big mistake.”
The recession has shown how much sus-
tainability has become a core part of the
strategies of many companies in the coatings
and other supply chains.
“There have been at least three periods
since the 1960s when companies took a lot of
interest in sustainability issues which then
fell away during an economic downturn,”
said Sherwin. “But this has not happened
during the latest recession because sustain-
ability has become embedded in corporate
strategies. It is not a public relations exer-
cise any more. It is seen as a better way of
doing business in the long term.”
Despite a fall in sales and profits last year,
AkzoNobel, which has used sustainability
measures to cut costs, increased its net cash
flow almost 14 fold to €1.2 billion ($1.4 bil-
lion) in 2009.
“Sustainability is integrated into everything
we do,” Andre Veneman, the company’s sus-
tainability director, told a recent investors’
conference in Amsterdam. “By 2015 our ambi-
tion is that eco-premium products—those with
a higher eco-efficiency than main competitive
products—will make up 30 percent of sales
and that our cradle-to-gate carbon footprint
will be reduced by 10 percent.”
In March the company launched in the UK
under its leading Dulux decorative brand the
Ecosense range which because of zero sol-
vent content has no lingering odor, has a 35-
50 percent lower carbon footprint and 25
percent recycled packaging.
“One of our global goals is the reduction of
waste from the use of products such as leftover paint and used packaging,” said David
Brunt, global environment and sustainability manager at AkzoNobel Decorative Paints.
