"Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs." - Gro Harlem Brundtland, 1987

This quote captures the essence of what the ICI Paints AkzoNobel sustainability strategy aims to do, and crucially, why it aims to do it. We stand as proof that an holistic approach to sustainability can not only lead to a tangibly reduced environmental impact for a manufacturer and its products, but the development of innovative products and solutions that provide new business opportunities.

Where To Start

When embarking on a sustainability strategy, it's wise to have a clear definition of what sustainability means to an organization, and it's imperative to have a clear view of why the strategy is being implemented. Even more important is strong and visionary sustainability leadership, so that a culture of sustainability becomes all-pervasive within a company's operations. It is possible, and commercially viable, to operate a triple bottom line in keeping with this - sustainable operations models are a real driver of business ,and product innovation and can add significant value to an organization, as well as enabling it to enter new markets.

Take paint, for example. By working to minimize the impact of paint - at the raw material extraction, processing and transport stages, as well as when it is in use - we have been able to minimize the environmental footprint, not only of the entire decorating process, but of our entire company. And for a chemicals company, this is no mean feat. In addition to sustainable water use, reducing the volatile organic compound (VOC) content across our product ranges and achieving zero waste through operational efficiencies in many of our operational sites, we have increased our company turnover from eco-premium solutions.

Five Pillars

Adopting a "five pillars" approach to sustainability - looking at people and communities; transport; energy usage; waste and resources; as well as products and services - is an excellent starting point when constructing a sustainability strategy, and forms a firm foundation from which to address and improve the sustainability credentials of a product's lifecycle.

The impact of a paint product is best assessed by looking at three elements: How long it lasts, how much is needed and what is in it. There's no point having a "natural" or "eco-friendly" paint if it lasts half as long as a standard formulation and therefore needs to be applied twice as often, thereby doubling the environmental impact of the decoration process. Similarly, if the eco-paint in question does not perform when it comes to opacity, or has a poor spreading rate, more product will be needed, which again increases the impact of decorating.

It pays to beware of the magic label. Just because something is marketed as natural does not mean that it is safe or boasts a lower environmental impact. For example, due in part to the sheer number of air miles that palm-oil based formulations notch up, and the destruction of rainforests that sourcing palm oil necessitates, they may have a far more detrimental impact than their technologically advanced counterparts. In many cases, the latter have been specifically engineered to embody less carbon and contain minimal levels of VOCs all while covering better, spreading further and lasting longer, thereby meeting the "how long does it last" and "how much is needed" criteria.
A purely aesthetic aside, but it's worth noting that "natural" paints often cannot offer the color range that sustainable paints from major manufacturers can, which is a key concern for specifiers.

Back to the magic labels. The sustainability market is saturated with confusing and often unsubstantiated claims of "carbon neutrality," "local sourcing" and "organic ingredients" to name but a few, but it's only those measures that actually make a tangible difference to a product's environmental impact that matter.

Setting The Standard

There is currently no industry benchmark for assessing the environmental footprint of paint and coatings products, so ICI Paints Akzo Nobel has been working with leading sustainability experts Forum for the Future to address this. By aiming to cut through the proliferation of claims and quantify the benefits of environmental choices, we have been able to develop the Environmental Impact Analyser, a Cradle-to-Cradle metric to genuinely quantify the success of any sustainability improvements.

In the absence of an industry body to regulate on sustainability and paint, we hope that the Environmental Impact Analyser will set the bar for a pragmatic sustainability measurement tool. ICI Paints Akzo Nobel has since been invited by the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA )to road test the new emerging PAS2050 standard for carbon footprinting and benchmark with the Energy Information Association (EIA); gratifyingly the results were in harmony.

The Environmental Impact Analyzer measures embodied carbon, water usage and waste production to enable Akzo Nobel to make improvements on each level. For us, the results have been revolutionary. We have developed Ecosure, a range of paints with 35% lower embodied carbon and virtually no VOCs while delivering equivalent performance and color offering to the rest of the Dulux Trade portfolio¹⁾. It enabled us to be first to market with an innovative, low solvent product range that included a high performing gloss and undercoat, and has led to the development of intelligent paint categories that boast in-life benefits such as exemplary durability and reduced energy consumption. Dulux Trade Light & Space, for example, uses Lumitec technology to reflect more light, making spaces appear bigger and brighter and enabling building users to expend up to 20% less lighting energy²⁾. 

Akzo Nobel has also developed specialist paints that will reduce fuel consumption, cooling and processing energy, and reduce formaldehyde content in buildings.

It's All in the Mix

As we have seen, true sustainability is not achievable by tackling it from the new product development (NPD) angle alone, and it's imperative that a company's environmental performance is also assessed and improved upon, looking at everything from transport to waste. To counteract the waste that its products generate, for example, ICI Paints Akzo Nobel has developed pioneering waste management solutions such as the Environmental Wash System, a brush and roller cleaning system that saves water onsite and prevents contaminated water from being poured down the drain by capturing it for re-use once the paint residue has been filtered out.

The company also launched the Dulux Trade Paint Solidifier in 2009, a revolutionary product that eliminates the practice of sending leftover liquid paint to landfill or pouring it down a drain. When the product is mixed with paint, the paint is solidified in the can and then the resulting end product can be treated as normal household waste.
In order to significantly reduce the amount of paint sent to landfill, and to help meet its social sustainability objective, ICI Paints AkzoNobel has been involved with the Community Re>Paint scheme since its inception in 1993. Community Re>Paint works to divert paint from landfill by redistributing it for use in community projects.

Clearly, there are no simple, quick fix solutions for achieving true sustainability. We are on a journey - and a long one - which is reflected in the name of our sustainability strategy: Step Towards Greener. It's crucial that every step counts.

¹⁾ PBW and Magnolia only. Although no VOCs or solvents are added to Ecosure during the manufacturing process, some of the raw materials can contain traces of volatile components, and therefore the number of these components found in a paint formulation can not be described as zero. Bases have minimum 29% less solvent.

²⁾ The energy savings will not always equate to 25%. They will vary depending on the contents, dimensions and floor colour of the room and will differ if lighting in particular areas needs to be controlled. The calculated figure varies from 14% to 28% depending on the wall color chosen. The actual light energy savings achieved in practice may differ from the calculations.