The Safer Choice program
evaluates the environmental and
human health impacts of every
chemical ingredient in a product.
The EPA chooses Partners of the Year in
five categories; AkzoNobel was selected
in the “Innovators” category.
The Surface Chemistry business
recently unveiled an innovative ingredient for cleaning products, Berol
DR-B1,which caught the attention of the
EPA due to its sustainability benefits, according to AkzoNobel Technical Service
and Product Development Manager
Butch Dery.
Berol DR-B1 is categorized as a direct-release surfactant, meaning that it passed
very stringent requirements to be approved by the EPA for direct release into
the environment. Customers can therefore
use it for a wide range of outdoor applications where very low environmental impact is a priority, such as cleaning of mass
transit vehicles, car washes, or cleaning of
house exteriors and garden furniture.
“The recognition from the EPA is an
important validation of AkzoNobel’s efforts to make safer and more sustainable
products for our customers,” Dery said.
With AkzoNobel’s inclusion as an EPA
Safer Choice Partner of the Year, products
that include Berol DR-B1 can carry the
EPA Safer Choice Label. This indicates
that the EPA has evaluated a product and
determined it contains only those ingredients that pose the least concern among
chemicals in their class, he added.
The EPA will recognize AkzoNobel at
the 2017 Safer Choice Partner of the Year
Awards on May 15, 2017.
PPG Completes COLORFUL
COMMUNITIES Project in
Brazil at Kinder
PPG has announced that it has completed
another COLORFUL COMMUNITIES
project in Porto Alegre, Brazil. About 30
PPG employees and their family members
volunteered to paint internal and external areas of Kinder - Integration Center
of Special Children, where more than
300 babies, children and adolescents with
multiple disabilities receive care.
The Colorful Communities program
provided PPG volunteers and products
along with financial contributions to
bring color and vitality to communities
where the company operates around
the world, such as in Gravataí, where
PPG operates a RENNER® Paints facility. The volunteers used about 350
liters of Renner Paints products to
complete the work.
“With this project, PPG reinforces
its commitment to Gravataí and the
surrounding community,” said Márcio
Grossmann, PPG business director,
Latin America South, and a member
of the volunteer group. “The Colorful
Communities program aims to transform
lives and spaces, and we hope to create
a warmer, more colorful environment for
the children, family members and em-
ployees who spend a good part of their
days here and help brighten their treat-
ment routine.”
Last year, PPG donated paints to help
revitalize some rooms at Kinder, and fi-
nalists of the PPG-organized contest
“Best Painter of the South” participated
in the renovation effort. Also last year,
the company completed another Colorful
Communities project in Porto Alegre
at the new headquarters of the Institute
for Childhood Cancer (ICI), as well as a
second project in Brazil at the Municipal
School of Early Childhood Education
(Escola Municipal de Educação Infantil,
or EMEI) Alfredo Castro Donaire in
Sumaré.
Axalta Opens New India
Headquarters to Support
Future Growth
Axalta Coating Systems opened its new
headquarters office for India located in
Gurugram within the National Capital
Region (NCR). The new location will
also house an Axalta Global Business
Resource Center which will provide a variety of services to the company’s operations in the region and around the world.
The 35,000 square feet facility will
enable Axalta to integrate its corporate
office and other key country business
functions within a single office leading
to improve efficiency and business process management. The opening follows
Axalta’s plant expansion plan in India
announced in 2015.
“We are very excited to see another
significant investment support our future
growth in India,” said Robert Bryant, executive vice president and chief financial
officer of Axalta Coating Systems, who
officially opened the facility. “The new
face of Axalta in India has been designed
with Axalta’s global standards in mind
and enables our company to showcase its
commitment to both long-term growth
and customer support in the market.”
