European Coatings Sector Embraces
Concept of Circular Economy
The scope of
the value chains
themselves are
being lengthened
in Europe,
resulting from the
introduction at
the national and
European level
of the idea of a
circular economy.
by Sean Milmo
European Correspondent
milmocw@rodmanmedia.com
The application of sustainability, origi- nally mainly focused on individual products and their ingredients, has been
extended to whole value chains.
In the coatings sector these value chain
cover the raw materials for the wide range of
chemicals used in coatings formulation to the
use of the paint itself in sectors like construction, automobile, marine and aerospace.
Now, however the scope of the value chains
themselves are being lengthened in Europe, resulting from the introduction at the national
and European Union level of the idea of a circular economy.
This attempts to change the current economic
system, prevalent since the industrial revolution
in Europe, under which growth is based on the
manufacture and consuming of products and
then disposing of them as waste. It is derived
from what is increasingly being seen as an out-
dated belief that resources will remain abundant
without the need for their reuse.
So Europe has been adopting a resource
efficiency agenda, in which a cradle-to-grave
approach is replaced by a cradle-to-cradle or
circular arrangement.
For Europe greater resource efficiency has
become vital because it is so dependent on imported raw materials.
The emergence of the circular economy
backed by closed-loop schemes in which disposal is replaced by reuse is changing concepts of sustainability – at least in Europe.
Sustainability is not just about launching coatings and other products on the market which
will help preserve the environment and protect human health. They also need to be safe
