PHILADELPHIA - Axalta Coating Systems won two industry awards for its sustainable High Solids 3-Wet and Eco-Concept waterborne coating systems at the SURCAR International Awards 2016. Both advanced technologies received awards in the Environmental Footprint category: the High Solids 3-Wet case study received the Air Emission Award, and the Eco-Concept primerless waterborne case study received the Energy Saving Award.

SURCAR is an automotive body finishing congress that has been active for more than 50 years. Each year, the event brings leading automotive-related companies and industry experts together to share experiences and discuss industry trends. SURCAR’s International Awards aim to identify, promote and reward the most innovative solutions in the value chain of the international automotive industry. A SURCAR committee comprised of selected industry experts drawn from around the world select the award winners.

In its two entries to the SURCAR International Awards, Axalta submitted reports and data based on automotive customers’ operations to demonstrate the environmental benefits of using these two coating systems. The goal of both systems is to enable customers to reduce emissions of VOCs to levels that not only meet, but exceed the requirements established by China’s new VOC regulation of less than 35 g/m2 of VOCs. Another goal of the two systems is to reduce energy consumption by 15% on the production line. These results are achieved by reducing curing temperatures, eliminating application and curing steps, or a combination of both.