SPECIAL ECS 2017
PRODUCT INNOVATION
A new horizon for sustainable coatings. Decovery® technology from DSM Alessia Venturi ipcm®
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Ipcm: Can you explain the thinking behind the development of more sustainable resins? “At DSM we want to address the big, defining societal problems - hence our company strapline, Bright Science, Brighter Living. In the case of resins, sustainability is about two things. The first is tackling resource scarcity so that instead of using our dwindling reserves of fossilbased materials to make resins we are now using raw materials that originate from plants and seeds. By creating products that
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are less carbon-intensive we can reduce the carbon footprint for our customers and other partners in the value chain, all the way to consumers. And plant-based resins also limit the exposure to VOCs versus
moving away from solvents towards more sustainable technologies like powder, waterborne and UV-curing coatings – which all have a significant lesser carbon footprint and VOC demand”.
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SM Coating Resins is a global leader in sustainable coating resin solutions with a strong focus on innovation. Today, a new generation of resins made from renewable raw materials like sugars, starches, natural oils and agricultural waste is helping manufacturers reduce the carbon footprint of their products, while making them safer for human consumption – good for people, planet, and increasingly, profit. Products like DSM’s plant-based Decovery® technology for paint applications are now able to match or exceed the high performance of fossil-based alternatives (Fig. 1). At the last European Coatings Show (Fig. 2), held in Nuremberg April 4 to 6, 2017 we interviewed Patrick Niels (Fig. 3), President, DSM Resins & Functional Materials, who addressed the main trends of DSM’s research in the field of waterborne and powder coating resins.
Ipcm: Precisely what impact can these sustainable resins have in reducing carbon footprint? “As you can see here at the booth, we have now introduced plant-based industrial coatings for interior wood and for decorative coatings, based on our Decovery® technology. In the coatings industry you have monomers manufacturers, resins manufacturers, paint manufacturers and applicators: The largest part of the carbon intensity is in the choice of the resin technology, so we have a major opportunity to reduce carbon footprint. To give you an idea, every 1kg of Decovery® resin used, saves 0.5kg – 1kg of carbon dioxide. That’s a significant contribution to reducing greenhouse gases. 1
Ipcm: How do plant-based resins like Decovery® perform compared to conventional resins? The performance versus existing fossil based paint has significantly improved. The Decovery® resins enable our customers to make the highest quality paints. It’s highly
Figure 1: The Decovery® technology has been displayed at the DSM’s booth during the European Coating Show 2017.
traditional solventborne products. If you look at the coatings industry, today 21% of all non-methane VOCs come from paints and coatings. We want to address that by
N. 45 - MAY/JUNE 2017 - international PAINT&COATING magazine