Canadian Finishing & Coatings Manufacturing Magazine September/October 2021 - 42

PAINT AND COATINGS MANUFACTURING: SUSTAINABILITY REPORTING
World Coatings Council
Focuses on Sustainability
Reporting
BY GARY LEROUX
T
he focus on sustainability within the coatings industry has evolved since it
first began to gain prominence years ago. Today, sustainability ideas are
routinely considered when performing many, if not all, business operations,
while continuing to ensure strong product performance. Reducing volatile
organic compounds (VOCs) emissions has been one of the signature successes of the
coatings industry in Canada with more than 94 percent of all architectural coatings now
water-based, amounting to reductions of more than 44 kilotonnes.
The focus has now shifted to a more holistic approach which includes energy and
resource conservation, waste minimization, process efficiency enhancement, use of
renewable feedstocks and more. Companies are looking to impact the entire value chain
and are considering the societal impacts of their activities. This is happening throughout
the coatings industry in Canada, and around the world, from SMEs to large national
and multinational companies. It is already evident in the regular annual sustainability
reports issued by paint and coatings companies which have become significantly
broader in scope and significantly more detailed over the past several years.
It is because of this commitment to sustainability that the World Coatings Council
(WCC), comprised of associations like CPCA from around the world, moved forward to
develop the first WCC Global Sustainability Report. An RFP was awarded to a company
based in Germany, called :response, which has since conducted extensive surveys and
developed key performance indicators (KPI) over the course of more than a year in
concert with WCC member associations.
This effort is progressing through five steps: 1) review of sustainability resources; 2)
material issues; 3) best practices and advocacy; 4) goals and key performance indicators;
5) copywriting the report. Key input was obtained from WCC members and their
respective industry membership around the world for each of the five steps identified
covering both national and regional activities in those countries. Ultimately, the report
will become a resource for international coatings companies to help facilitate their
individual sustainability reporting.
The goal of this initiative is to communicate and build on the sustainability successes
of the coatings industry, and there are many. In fact, coatings help many other industries
reduce their environmental footprint in many ways by extending the life-cycle of their
products via high-performance coatings, reduced fuel consumption through antifouling
coatings, extended product stewardship from recycling leftover paint and more.
The pinnacle of sustainability reporting is the set of United Nations Sustainable
Development Goals created a number of years ago to provide guidance on sustainability
reporting for all industry sectors and organizations in general. Nine of the 17 goals
have been used to develop sustainability reporting guidelines for the coatings industry.
In recent surveys conducted by :response, the order of ranking for those goals in the
case of coatings and of importance to CPCA, is as follows: responsible production and
consumption (12 in the UN list); sustainable cities and communities (11); good health
and well-being (3); industry innovation and infrastructure (9); climate action (13);
clear water and sanitation (6); decent work and economic growth (8); quality education
(4); and life below water (14). The remaining sustainable development goals remain
important but will not be as relevant for the coatings industry.
Industry perspectives gleaned from member surveys focused on achievements
and challenges that included: a) business model and innovation; b) environment;
42
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c) human capital; d) leadership and
governance; and e) social capital. Within
these perspectives there were 30 topics
of importance. Industry surveys were
conducted in multiple countries revealing
a number of areas where companies most
frequently mentioned
achievements
as follows: employee health and safety;
customer satisfaction; product safety
and stewardship; compliance and anticorruption;
renewable energies and
energy management; biodiversity;
diversity and inclusion; and digitalization
and data security.
With respect to the perceived
challenges, the topics that were noted for
urgent action or concern for major risks
included: product design and lifecycle
management, waste and hazardous
material management; responsible
supply chains; community relations and
contribution to industrial development;
labour rights; customer satisfaction;
and economic performance. Many will
understand and appreciate how those
could be key issues for the coatings sector
and some would resonate more than others
depending on the country in question and
their product lines. The consultant has
taken a deeper dive on these variables and
KPIs were defined for all, accepted and
incorporated into the business metrics
for coatings companies. These will help
member companies determine how each
metric could be reflected in a company's
sustainability reporting in the future. This
could be especially beneficial to SMEs
who may not have the resources to develop
and update full-fledged sustainability
reports.
Comprehensive work on the important
examples
KPI
has
been completed
and the next step is developing the
KPI toolkit for our respective member
companies. All those who are members
of the associations that make up the
World Coatings Council will be able to
continue sharing best practices for future
sustainability reporting in the US$164
billion (as of 2019) coatings industry.
This will help the coatings industry to
more accurately reflect its substantial
contributions to making the world a more
sustainable place.
Gary LeRoux is President and CEO of the
Canadian Paint and Coatings Association.
www.canpaint.com

http://www.canpaint.com http://www.cfcm.ca

Canadian Finishing & Coatings Manufacturing Magazine September/October 2021

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