Sustainability

Green Claims Guide

In an ever more competitive marketplace, the makers of decorative paints often rely on unique selling points to make their products stand out. Some companies however, may be misleading consumers with unsubstantiated green claims about their products. The BCF aims to help create a level playing field for the industry by debunking and fact checking some of these claims.

In March 2022, BCF published the Green Claims Guide for Decorative Paints, which outlines key claims which may be misleading for consumers. It is becoming more common to see unsustained greenwashing selling points from non-BCF members - it appears that these claims are marketing techniques rather than actual commitments to the environment. BCF joins a growing list of industry bodies on a global scale now issuing guidance for businesses making environmental claims to help consumers make more sustainable choices.

‘Non-Toxic’, ‘Natural’, ‘Vegan’, ‘Child and Pet-safe’, Eco-friendly’ and ‘Organic’ – these are just some of the claims that some businesses are using to market decorative paint products to consumers. The BCF are urging consumers to consult BCF’s guide when faced with claims in order to validate them.

There is guidance from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to help businesses understand how to communicate their green credentials while reducing the risk of misleading shoppers, called the Green Claims Code. This focuses on six principles that are based on existing consumer law and make clear that businesses ‘must not omit or hide important information’ and ‘must consider the full life cycle of the product’. BCF’s new guide aligns with the CMA’s Green Claims Code. BCF welcomes the increased initiative being taken by UK regulators. It is likely that more action will be brought against those not complying with the CMA’s Green Claims Code, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA)’s Advertising Codes and applicable consumer protection legislation.

BCF launch new Trace VOC Globe

From May 2022, decorative paints manufacturers will be able to adopt the use of the statement ‘TRACE’ Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) as part of BCF’s VOC Globe scheme to improve communication to consumers highlighting which products have the lowest levels of VOCs. The TRACE globe will be used for products with VOC content of less than 0.1%.

Paints contain different levels of solvents, also known as VOCs. Solvent content can vary from negligible amounts to, in a very small number of products, very high levels. Given that VOCs contribute to atmospheric pollution, the industry is committed to reducing the level of solvent in paints. Decorative paint manufacturers have significantly reduced the presence of VOCs in their products over the last two decades, with 84% of decorative paints now sold on the market being water-based, and therefore low or very low VOC.

The VOC Globe scheme is part of a wider initiative by the coatings industry to raise consumer awareness of the amount of VOCs contained in decorative paint products, allowing consumers to make more informed, and hopefully greener choices. Greater involvement from paint manufacturers in the scheme, with wider use of the globe symbol, will also greatly help paint recyclers separate solvent-based and water-based leftover paint with ease, which aids reuse and recycling.

The British Coatings Federation takes the position that the use of the terms ‘Zero-VOC’ and ‘VOC-free’ are false claims and should not be used in the paint industry. There will always be a trace element of VOCs, even if no raw materials containing VOCs have been added. Even water can contain trace amounts of VOC, supply chains for the manufacture of paint are often complex and VOCs, even at negligible amounts, can also be introduced during any part of the process, through using raw materials that naturally contain VOCs, to processes that introduce VOCs, such as washing raw materials. It is impossible to ensure that every batch of paint is completely free of VOCs because of the potential for trace solvents to be introduced at any point throughout the supply chain.

The VOC Globe scheme is owned, managed and copyrighted by the British Coatings Federation. To coincide with the addition of the TRACE globe, the artwork for all the other ratings has also been updated.

Coatings Care

The BCF Coatings Care environmental programme demonstrates that the UK coatings industry cares about the health and welfare of employees, the safe operation of processes, and is actively working to reduce its impact on the environment.

It is a voluntary programme which provides an opportunity for members to benchmark their environmental performance against 45 KPIs, and has over 30 UK coatings and printing ink manufacturing sites taking part. We have been tracking the enviromental performance of BCF members manufactoring sites for more than 20 years via the Coatings Care programme and, over that time, have recorded significant improvements in production efficiency and waste and energy reductions.

Record-breaking reductions in 2020

71% of production waste is now recycled, compared with just 17% in 1996 Record low levels of energy used in production

Zero RIDDOR reported dangerous occurrences or fires at BCF member sites in 2020

Coatings Care Awards

The industry is working continuously to reduce waste, improve recycling and eliminate accidents. Coatings Care ensures that this is encouraged, recognised and awarded. Two Coatings Care awards are presented to BCF member sites each year.

Coatings Care Progress Award

Crown Paints Hull

Crown Paints Hull achieved below average solvent purchases and VOC emissions, and zero waste to landfill. There were no workrelated injuries recorded at the site. To find out more about the 2022 Coatings Care programme, please contact alison.brown@bcf.co.uk or visit:

Coatings Care Overall Best Performer Award

Teal & Mackrill Hull

Teal & Mackrill showed significant improvements in recycling rates, with a similar reduction in waste to landfill, despite higher production volumes. VOC emissions and solvent purchases were also well down on the previous year.

PaintCare programme moves to the next stage

Steve Snaith

BCF PaintCare Consultant

This year has seen another major milestone reached for the PaintCare programme, the decorative paint industry’s national voluntary product stewardship programme which will revolutionise how leftover paint is managed in the UK. BCF’s Board gave the green light to the BCF team to start talks with retailers, merchants and decorators’ associations and other stakeholders to build engagement and support for the proposal.

Retailer/Distributor Support Confirmed

Discussions have been held with most of the major DIY retailers and trade paint distributors, with strong positive support to help make the PaintCare programme a reality. Following feedback from a number of retailers/ distributors who wanted to have collection points for leftover paint in their stores, we have modelled this in an update to the proposal.

National Government Support Confirmed

In a meeting with Defra Minister Jo Churchill, she expressed her enthusiasm for PaintCare and wants her department to help make it happen. Meetings with the Deputy Director of Defra, Resources and Waste and his teams have been held to discuss the new Packaging Extended Producer Responsibility laws, and how Defra could help with potential obstacles PaintCare might face. Having support from Government for the scheme is clearly a very positive development. A detailed proposal is being prepared to present to national Government later this year seeking for decision-makers to provide a more formal response of support to help implementation of PaintCare as the national voluntary product stewardship programme for leftover paint.

Local Government Support Confirmed

As part of developing the implementation plan, we have undertaken a survey with local Authorities and Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) and the vast majority are very interested in taking part in the PaintCare programme. Discussions with a number of waste companies e.g. Veolia and Suez have also proved positive.

Consumer and Professional Painter Support Confirmed

Our research, carried out in 2021, confirms that 90% of professional painters and 80% of consumers surveyed found the PaintCare programme appealing and were prepared to pay a small eco premium to cover the cost of collecting and remanufacturing leftover paint, which would be sufficient to cover the cost of the programme. A separate discussion with the Painting and Decorating Association confirmed the Association support for the programme.

Development of the Implementation Plan

With strong broad stakeholder support for the PaintCare programme and agreement

from the BCF Board to fund the development of an implementation plan, 360 Environmental was appointed to help refine the business model and develop an implementation plan for a first phase rollout in 2023. 360 Environmental are an environmental consultancy of waste specialists that operate in the waste management, permitting, recycling and packaging fields.

Following further discussions with waste companies, local authorities and paint recyclers to model how PaintCare will work in reality has broadly confirmed the business model and assumptions used in the operation of an optimised national model. Work is now focused on identifying the best way to roll out the programme in a phased way and to overcome the barriers identified to scaling up to a national programme. The development of paint remanufacturing capacity to support a national scheme is seen as a constraint at the moment.

Packaging

Extended Producer Responsibility offset secured

One of the key requests from members was to make sure that we don’t pay twice for EPR, i.e. via PaintCare and the new Packaging EPR system. The good news is that we now have an (informal) agreement from Defra that any packaging that is collected via the PaintCare programme can be offset against brand owners’ Packaging EPR obligations. The government has now confirmed that phase 1 of the packaging EPR will only include consumer waste which means only retail paint packaging will be in scope and not trade paint packaging. Implementation of the packaging EPR scheme has been postponed to 2025.

PaintCare and Empty Packaging

Cost estimates for collecting leftover paint have made us less enthusiastic about using the same system for collecting empty paint packaging from the public. It could be that retailers will themselves offer collection systems for various types of packaging, and we believe we should wait until this landscape becomes clearer before any commitment is made to include empty packaging in the PaintCare scheme.

Next steps

• Further stakeholder engagement

• Completion of the Implementation Plan – October 2022

• Phase 1 Rollout Mid/Late 2023

PaintCare: How will it work?

1. Consumers/painters take their leftover paint to their local HWRC or participating retailer/merchant, where it is collected in dedicated storage areas.

2. Leftover paint is collected and transported to the remanufacturing unit

3. Leftover paint is remanufactured into high quality paint for resale

4. Any leftover paint not suitable for remanufacture is recycled into other product streams e.g. concrete