Paint & Coatings Industry - December 2008 - (Page 22)

Closed-Loop Recycling — a Sustainable Packaging Solution for the Coatings Industry that sustainable businesses are consistently financial successful which coincidentally affects consumer and employee evaluations. The Future of Recycling for the U.S. Coatings Industry Product Stewardship, National Post-Consumer Paint Management System In harmony with the sustainability movement, the development of a paint recycling program for the United States is under assessment. The National Paint & Coatings Association (NPCA) has announced support and plans to work towards a Nationally Coordinated System for Post-Consumer Paint Management as part of the Paint Product Stewardship Initiative. The NPCA has been engaged in dialogue relative to a national post-consumer recycling program, prompted by the Product Stewardship Institute (PSI) since 2003. Surveys have identified post-consumer waste as a top concern to state and local agencies. An EPA study estimated that approximately 10% of the 637 million gallons of paint sold annually becomes leftover paint, equal to about 64 million gallons per year. As a result of the surveys and ongoing discussions, PSI convened a national dialogue, “the Paint Product Stewardship Initiative” (PPSI), which brings together EPA, recyclers, retailers, state and local governments and paint industry representatives.7 Currently, NPCA and PPSI have launched a pilot program in Minnesota as a statewide demonstrating project for managing post-consumer paint. The Product Care model in Canada is one that NPCA and PPSI are exploring within the Minnesota project. Product Care is a non-profit organization, funded by their membership. The Canadian government requires that all companies that produce, brand or sell architectural paints must be a member of a product stewardship organization. Product Care members include retailers, manufacturers and brand owners. The members pay a fee per unit to Product Care, based on self reporting. Product Care uses their money to maintain their operations in collecting, shipping, preparing and marketing the containers. They do not expect to make money and in fact, according to Mark Kurschner, Product Care President, “the residual paint has a negative value.” Currently, Product Care incinerates polypropylene containers for energy recovery.8 While these current projects only target the collection of diversion of post-consumer paint product rather than packaging in their programs, obviously the containers are additional byproduct of the waste streams. Recyclers are optimistic that should a national program to collect post-consumer paint be established, the program would 22 DECEMBER 2008 | W W W . P C I M A G . C O M acquire the critical mass of paint containers that could readily be prepared for recycling. The infrastructure, technology, capacity and model for closed-loop recycling exists within the recycling industry; one must ask “why only reclaim and recycle paint, why not the containers as well?” While paint manufacturers may find initial worth in allowing post-consumer paint management system(s) to supervise container reclamation, the restored value of the containers would be lost to the manufacturers. Closed-loop recycling encourages manufacturers to take advantage of the value in their own containers. Conclusion Paint manufacturers must examine their packaging choices and realize the full value of their containers and the existing markets that have strong demands for their used containers. The coatings industry has the opportunity to control the life cycle of their paint containers while reducing cost and increasing profitability. Striving to be sustainable requires evaluation of the social, economic and environmental challenges and rewards of your packaging, product, processes and management. Closed-loop recycling has proven to be a sensible solution in the search to find sustainable packaging for the paint and coatings industry. References 1 Baundhauer, Karen. USEPA Region IV. “A Win-Win for Communities: Recycling Makes Dollars and Sense.” PowerPoint presentation. Perdido Resort, Perdido Beach, AL. 13 Nov 2007. 2 National Paint & Coatings Association. The Paint Industry Works toward a Nationally Coordinated System for Post-Consumer Paint Management. Issue Backgrounder 2008 Feb; Vol. 16 No. 1: 1 3 Chemical & Engineering News Oct 2007 “From Refuse to Reuse”. Alexander S., Executive Director, APR. [electronic mail on the Internet.] 2008 March 31. [Anonymous]. Raw Material and Packaging Cost and Productivity Benchmarks. Best Practices, LLC [online] http://www3. best-in-class.com/bestp/domrep.nsf/Content/7A809D7604236 D30852571C00050E318!OpenDocument. 4 5 6 Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes. [online] http://www.sustainability-index.com/. National Paint & Coatings Association. The Paint Industry Works toward a Nationally Coordinated System for Post-Consumer Paint Management. Issue Backgrounder 2008 Feb; Vol. 16 No. 1. 7 8 Kurshner, Mark. Interview by S.Baker. 5 Feb 2008. This paper was presented at the American Coatings Conference, Charlotte, NC, June, 2008. http://www3.best-in-class.com/bestp/domrep.nsf/Content/7A809D7604236D30852571C00050E318!OpenDocument http://www3.best-in-class.com/bestp/domrep.nsf/Content/7A809D7604236D30852571C00050E318!OpenDocument http://www3.best-in-class.com/bestp/domrep.nsf/Content/7A809D7604236D30852571C00050E318!OpenDocument http://www.sustainability-index.com http://www.sustainability-index.com http://WWW.PCIMAG.COM

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Paint &�Coatings Industry - December 2008 Contents Viewpoint Industry News Company News Closed-Loop Recycling: A Sustainable Packaging Solution for the Coatings Industry Calculating VOCs: Not All Low VOCs are Created Equal Products Supplier Showcase Buyers’ Guide Index Product Listings Supplier Listings Distributor Listings Classifieds Advertiser Index

Paint & Coatings Industry - December 2008

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