New legislation is moving the coatings industry towards greater sustainability by reducing the amount of VOCs and dangerous substances in their coatings. “Hempel is moving in this direction also,” said Klaus Moeller, group vice president, marketing at Hempel. “We have reformulated many products to be low VOC and have removed many dangerous substances. This includes developing a new lead-free tinting system for protective and marine products. We also recently acquired Schaepman and Jones-Blair, both of which have a waterborne line.”

“We also go a step further by producing coatings that help our customers reduce their environmental footprint.” Moeller added. “This is done in a range of ways. We have introduced a new two-coat system for wind towers, for example, that increases throughput and reduces energy use during application and curing compared to traditional three-coat systems.”

In general, Moeller has seen a move from solventborne to waterborne coatings when the coating can be applied in a controlled environment. “This is because the drying process for a waterborne coating requires low humidity,” he said. “Unless the drying takes place in a controlled environment, drying times in many locations and seasons can be too long. Light industry is one of the industries increasingly using these types of coatings. When the drying environment cannot be controlled, the way forward is to use high-solids, ultra-high-solids or solvent-free paint systems.”


Hempel will continue to focus on driving innovation within the industry towards higher performing products that set new corrosion protection standards, with improved application properties and reduced environmental impact for the benefit of owners, applicators and the environment.