factory-controlled finishes to
interior wood trim and molding. Weaber Lumber’s Finish
Brian Knapp, PPG coil and building
products director, industrial coatings,
said PPG worked closely with Weaber
Lumber Company to select a coating
that would give the Finish Coat line a
distinct performance advantage over
competing products.
“Weaber and PPG chose Aqualink
water-based coatings for this product
development because they are extremely
hard, chemical resistant and safe for the
environment,” he explained.
Matt Weaber, president and chief
executive officer of Weaber Lumber
Company, said Aqualink coatings enable
his company to manufacture a one-of-a-kind product that saves his customers time and money. “Because of their
hard-cure Aqualink coatings, our Finish
Coat products offer builders, carpenters
and other professionals an industry first:
labor-saving, ready-to-install, factory-quality hardwood trim that is designed to
keep its perfectly coated showroom finish
for years to come.”
Axalta-Coated Brilliant
Flames and Jeff Gordon
Win Again
With wins in Kansas and Indianapolis,
Brilliant Flames and driver Jeff Gordon
are on a hot streak after taking the checkered flag at Indianapolis Motor Speedway
in the Brickyard 400.
With a record-breaking fifth win in the
Brickyard 400 and a 24-point lead in the
driver standings, the four-time NASCAR
Sprint Cup Series champion is on fire. The
victory was at, arguably, one of the most
legendary tracks and won in a brilliant
looking racecar.
“Winning a fifth Brickyard 400 was
incredible, especially since I was able to
celebrate it with Ingrid, Ella and Leo,”
said Gordon. “And I have to thank Axalta
– we couldn’t have done it without them.
What a special win.”
AkzoNobel Creates First
Fully Compostable and
Reyclable Paper Cup
Thanks to the company’s new pioneering coatings technology EvCote Water
Barrier 3000 – which itself is made from
plant-based oils and recycled PET bottles – restaurants can now select a more
sustainable paper cup to serve their cold
drinks in. These cups don’t require any
modification in the current recycle stream
or special handling and are fully compostable and recyclable.
“This is an industry-changing innovation which could have a significant
impact in terms of providing economic
and environmental benefits along the
value chain. The new coatings technology will help restaurant owners and cup
producers to reduce their waste,” said
Conrad Keijzer, AkzoNobel’s Executive
Committee member responsible for
Performance Coatings.
“There has already been strong interest in our product and we expect it to
prompt a major transformation in paper
cup production, much like the move from
wax to the current Polyethylene process
around 40 years ago,” added AB Ghosh,
managing director, Industrial Coatings.
Roughly 200 billion paper cups are
used around the world every year, but
none of those currently in use can be recycled without incurring prohibitive costs or
greatly diminishing the quality of the paper fiber. That makes this new technology
remarkable, because when paper coated
with EvCote is recycled, the quality of the
paper fiber remains intact – which means
the paper can be reused in the production
of other paper products. In some cases,
due to the fibers being strengthened by the
coating, paper produced from the waste
can even achieve higher strength than the
original, uncoated paper.
An additional advantage is that it en-
ables paper mills to recapture 100 percent
of the paper waste from the production
process that is currently sent to land-
fill, resulting in significant financial sav-
ings. The amount of paper waste in the
production process is so vast that it could
be used to completely wrap the Empire
State Building 6300 times.
Made of up to 95 percent sustainable
or renewable content, EvCote barrier
coatings protect paper surfaces against
water, grease and moisture. They can be
used in numerous applications, including corrugated packaging, folding carton
board, beverage carrier board and food
service packaging.
PPG Donates $10,000 and
Products to U.S. Space and
Rocket Center
The PPG Industries Foundation has
donated $10,000 to the U.S. Space &
Rocket Center (USSRC) Foundation
in Huntsville, Alabama, for scholarships to AVIATION CHALLENGE
programs at the center. Additionally,
PPG Industries’ aerospace business,
which operates a facility in Huntsville,
has donated coatings to change the
livery of an F- 16 jet as a “Red Tail”
commemorating Alabama’s Tuskegee
Airmen who served the U.S. during
World War II.
The PPG grant helped fund scholarships for underserved students
ages 9 to 18 to attend the Aviation
Challenge camp at USSRC. In honor
of the donation, the week of July 6-11
was designated “PPG Week” for both
the Aviation Challenge camp and the
SPACE CAMP program, which focuses on space exploration. Preston
Nesselrotte, PPG segment manager for
military transparencies, aerospace, presented to trainees, and additional PPG
representatives interacted with students during various activities through
the week.
Tom Meyer, PPG Huntsville plant
manager, said, “At PPG, we’re strongly
committed to helping advance the industries we serve by supporting educational initiatives associated with those
industries. The USSRC and its Aviation
Challenge camps offer in-depth information and hands-on experiences that
directly relate to PPG’s aerospace business and encourage students to pursue
STEM-related studies and careers. The
camp trainees will be integral to the
