Sustainability

The paint and coatings industry has a long history of providing products that protect, sustain, and extend the life of vital infrastructure and other essential products, such as medical devices, military vehicles, electronic equipment, and so much more. Coatings not only provide aesthetic benefits but also allow these essential products to remain in use for a longer period of time which reduces waste and conserves resources and energy. Innovative paints and coatings also have energy applications, which include increasing the efficiency of solar panels or by lowering energy consumption by reflecting heat.

The challenge remains to further reduce its environmental footprint, increase resource recovery while ensuring performance demands are met. Reducing and eliminating hazardous emissions has been embraced by the coatings industry through a variety of environmental strategies and health and safety programs to protect the communities and the industry’s workforce.

In 2022, the World Coatings Council completed a Sustainability Report which highlights ongoing efforts and contributions to sustainability from the coatings industry that aligned with the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). The report also provided a harmonized set of building blocks to structure and communicate sustainability efforts wherever they emerge.

The World Coatings Council believes that sustainability programs should be developed with significant participation and input from industry members in a wide variety of market sectors in order to ensure consistency and harmonization across the globe that addresses resource conservation as well as environmental health and safety aspects.