AkzoNobel Boosts Powder Coatings Capacity and Shifts to Greener Production

 

AkzoNobel has announced that it is investing €20 million to increase powder coatings capacity at its site in Como, Italy. According to the company, the new facility will provide strategic back up for AkzoNobel’s Arnsberg site in Germany (where a new line is also being added), helping to secure customer supply.

The extra capacity in Como is being installed in a renovated building where powder coatings were originally made – a sustainable reuse of an historic part of the site, the company stated. The new operation in Como will use recycled energy to reduce consumption and introduce advanced equipment and technology to deliver higher productivity rates and efficiency gains, AkzoNobel said.

“Although powder coatings are already inherently sustainable, we’re also committed to making our own buildings and facilities as sustainable as possible. The company has set a clear ambition to reduce its carbon emissions by 50 percent in 2030 and become carbon neutral by 2050, so we’re accelerating our efforts to embrace renewable energy and introduce more smart manufacturing technology,” said Daniela Vlad, business director of AkzoNobel Powder Coatings.

The Como investment follows the company’s August announcement about a major plant expansion at the  Amata Industrial Park facility in Vietnam. Reportedly, production capacity for marine and protective coatings and wood coatings is being boosted, with a wide range of sustainability features being introduced; these include solar power generation, rainwater harvesting and solvent recovery systems.

Another recent upgrade in Guangzhou, China, involves switching to completely water-based products. The company stated that once fully operational, the decorative paints site will increase water reuse by 70 percent and reduce wastewater by 50 percent, which will help AkzoNobel to achieve its ambition of 100 percent water reuse at its most water intensive sites by 2030.

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from American Coatings Association https://www.paint.org/akzonobel-boosts-powder-coatings-capacity-and-shifts-to-greener-production/
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