Canadian Finishing and Coatings Manufacturing: Nov/Dec 2022 - 15

CASF NEWS
downturn or labour markets, the interest in this year's conference
was low from the side of operations doing the finishing. It is a
credit to the supply side of our industry for making themselves
available and committing to support the conference as both
participants and exhibitors. We hope that the recent survey
sent out to the CASF membership on the proposed chromium
amendments will act as a bit of a census, as well as shedding light
on operational concerns that might have led to the conference not
being a priority for finishing operations.
ECCC is seeking the industry's input on the amendments
to the regulations and CASF will have given its position by the
December 7th, 2022 window for ECCC accepting comments on
the rules. The ECCC is familiar with chromium being widely used
in the metal finishing industry for its performance and durability
with respect to corrosion resistance and hardness, and taking a
case by case approach needs to be considered. The most recent
year, or years, since the pandemic and regional conflicts have
spilled over into severe global supply chain disruptions, have not
skipped over impacting the Canadian metal finishing industry.
From commodity prices, fuel and logistics expenses, supply
chain reorientation and chaos, delays, and ultimately some or
significant downturn in demand, the outlook for metal finishers
has been unpredictable.
There are commercially critical products or intermediate
operations provided by the finishing industry that need 'priority,'
to avoid using the term protection. CASF members pride
themselves on their operations and meeting (and exceeding)
responsible operating criteria set by municipal, regional and
federal agencies while providing value to several sectors of the
Canadian economy. The challenges of operating in this year's
economic uncertainty do require scrutiny and discussion of the
proposed testing frequency of first, second and fifth year intervals
following the enforcement of the proposed amendments.
This schedule may prove extremely costly for metal finishers
while carrying some redundancy in meeting release limits, all
depending on the type of control method and specific devices
used (point source emissions control currently and for new point
sources, surface tension control or tank covers). Reporting to the
ECCC has shown 85 per cent of metal finishers meet the criteria
of the proposed amendments. This type of survey information
is valuable and should also act as groundwork for dialogue on
which types of operations are meeting the proposed amendments
and how the remainder of metal finishers fit in: where do they
come up short, and why? It is important to again appeal to metal
finishers that are part of CASF or otherwise to take more control
of their own fate and reach out to their fellow metal finishers. As
an industry we are required to adhere to requirements that our
competitors exporting to the Canadian market do not necessarily
need to meet. A collaborative approach for sharing best practices,
successes and areas for improvement, is critical.
CASF Courses for Growing Expertise in
Electroplating and Metal Finishing
This year marks the return of the CASF Introduction to
Electroplating course for those gaining experience in the metal
finishing industry. A core principle of CASF is to contribute to
the success of members and their teams in the metal finishing
November/December 2022
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Canadian Finishing and Coatings Manufacturing: Nov/Dec 2022

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