It has been a busy show season, with PCI recently returning from the American Coatings Show (ACS) in Indianapolis, the RadTech 2024 UV+EB Conference in Orlando, and CPCA’s Canadian Coatings Conference in Montreal. All three events were energetic, and introduced great new information and technology for the coatings industry.

Sustainability on the Show Floor

While at the ACS, PCI met with many coatings suppliers on the exhibit floor. Sustainability ruled the show, from clean energy and other decarbonization efforts, to more-efficient production, bio-based technologies, high-solids products, cool roof coatings, environmental product declarations, water-based polyurethanes, dispersible polymer powder, alternatives to materials of concern, and much more. You can read our post-show wrap-up article in this issue. 

Sustainability was also a major focus at RadTech, as UV/EB curing provides significant sustainability advantages when compared to alternative, conventional thermal curing processes. RadTech organizers honored several companies with the 2024 Sustainability Award. Their pioneering use of UV and EB technologies have demonstrated various benefits, including energy savings, CO2 reductions, minimized water usage, and a significant decrease in VOC and hazardous air pollutant emissions. Moreover, they have streamlined supply chains, reduced transportation costs, and slashed waste through recyclability and material substitution. Congratulations to the winners, who include:

• Cypris Materials, Inc., whose patented copolymer technology eliminates the need for pigments and dyes with its structural color technology. The company prioritized UV-curable coatings as its first commercial application to offer customers the lowest possible cradle-to-grave carbon footprint option.
• Allied UV, whose process solutions allow North American manufacturers to replace solvent-based and water-based coating solutions with 100%-solids UV solutions, with no VOCs or HAPs.
• Avery Dennison Corporation, who has developed innovative and more sustainable UV-cured adhesives (UV WarmMelt), replacing solvent-based adhesives without compromising performance.
• MacDermid Graphics Solutions, who produces photopolymer printing plate precursors for the flexographic printing industry, which are subsequently UV cured and processed by customers. The company has developed a process to collect and repurpose used printing plates, after printing, into various end products.
• allnex, who has collaborated to develop a customized UV-curable resin for 3D-printed homes with Mighty Buildings, an innovative California company that uses 3D printing technology to manufacture sustainable and climate-resilient high-quality homes.

An Emphasis on Regulations 

The major focus at the Canadian Coatings Conference was the current challenges before the CASE industry in Canada. CPCA President and CEO, Gary LeRoux, noted that Canada is now at the tipping point of regulatory change, and if the many proposed changes are adopted it will alter the industry for years to come. There are literally dozens of proposed changes to the way the CASE industry currently does business in Canada; from the kind of ingredients permitted in formulated products; how those products are shipped and stored across the supply chain; how they are labelled and disposed of or recycled; and much more. 

The keynote speaker, Dr. Joe Schwarcz, Director of the Office of Science and Society at McGill University, supplemented this message by addressing the need to separate the “sense from the nonsense” when it comes to the use, perceptions, and assessment of chemicals used in innumerable products. While the tone of the conference was serious in terms of these challenges to the industry, LeRoux, Dr. Schwarcz, and others presented their content in often-humorous ways, with many “laugh-out-loud” moments to lighten the mood.

It has been a great few weeks travelling to these events and taking in all of the different information and perspectives. Thank you to the ACS, RadTech, and the CPCA for hosting and supporting the coatings industry! Up next are the Southern Society for Coatings Technology's Annual Meeting and Technology Conference, and the Cleveland Coatings Society's Sink or Swim Technical Symposium and Exhibition. And, of course, we look forward to seeing you at our CTT Summit in September. The agenda is available, and registration is open!