The industrial coatings market is moving towards more environmentally friendly products and solutions.  "This is driven by both legislation as well as individual corporate commitment to a more sustainable environment," said  Shelley J. Bausch, vice president, global industrial coatings, PPG.  "All product offerings are designed to deliver specific performance in application, and some applications continue to be best served in terms of performance with solvent-based coatings.  However, even in those cases, improvements in the solvents, the solvent level, and the processing approach can improve the environmental impact."

PPG is continually developing new waterborne coatings because of the advantages they offer, not just in terms of VOC emissions, but also for color range, substrate flexibility and energy consumption.  Recent advances in this arena include waterborne refinish coatings for the automotive industry and non-copper-containing, anti-fouling coatings for marine applications.  In addition to water-based technology work, there will be an increase in both powder and UV technologies to meet the VOC requirements in parallel with performance. 

"Our activities in the industrial coatings market will be driven by our customers – by continually understanding their needs and challenges and then innovating to provide solutions that meet their needs," he added. "This can be related to the performance, processing, and environmental benefits mentioned above, or in the area of process and application effectiveness and efficiency.  In addition, we are looking ahead at market trends relative to substrates and new processing approaches that we can proactively bring to our customers to enhance their overall success.  We intend to provide innovative solutions that positively impact our customers and their business goals."