Regulatory Updates from the American Coatings Association

The American Coatings Association (ACA) has released updated Product Category Rules (PCRs) for Powder Coatings and Resinous Floor Coatings. ACA initiated development of these PCRs in concert with Sustainable Minds, a software and services company that operationalizes environmental performance into mainstream product development and manufacturing in an accessible, empowering, and credible way.

ACA has made the new PCR for Powder Coatings and PCR for Resinous Floor Coatings available for free download on its website.

PCRs provide an agreed–upon framework for measuring the environmental impacts of a product based on a defined set of criteria, enabling manufacturers to conduct life-cycle assessments (LCAs) of their products in a standardized way, and publish this information in an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD), if they choose.

PCRs are timely and useful resources given that many sustainability guidelines and green certification programs provide preferential treatment to products with verified EPDs. Additionally, LCA results can be used to demonstrate performance attributes of products, including durability. LCA also provides paint and coating manufacturers with the opportunity to exhibit improvements in resource efficiency across the supply chain.

Notably, the PCR for Resinous Floor Coatings specifies that the type of EPD created is dependent upon whether single-layer product results or multilayer system results are used. The PCR for Powder Coatings specifies that the type of EPD created shall be cradle to gate. Moreover, this PCR requires powder coatings to be assessed as a single-layer product, as opposed to a multiple-layer system.

Both PCRs are valid for a period of five years from the date of publication.

ACA recently released a new Product Category Rule (PCR) for Metal Coil and Extrusion Coatings. ACA initiated development of this new PCR in concert with NSF International, an independent organization that facilitates standards development, product certification, testing, auditing, education, and risk management for public health and the environment.

The scope of extrusion coatings covered by this PCR is defined as coatings that occur during “the method of manufacturing a metal part, typically aluminum or steel, using an
extrusion process.”

The scope of coil coatings covered by this PCR is defined as coatings that are “applied to continuous coil of metal, typically aluminum or steel, that is unwound, cleaned, surface-treated, coated, heat-cured, and rewound in one operation.”

The new PCR for Metal Coil and Extrusion Coatings is available for free download on ACA’s website,
https://www.paint.org/.

PCRs provide an agreed–upon framework for measuring the environmental impacts of a product based on a defined set of criteria, enabling manufacturers to conduct life-cycle assessments (LCAs) of their products in a standardized way, and publish this information in an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD), if they choose.

PCRs are timely and useful resources given that many sustainability guidelines and green certification programs provide preferential treatment to products with verified EPDs. Additionally, LCA results can be used to demonstrate performance attributes of products, including durability. LCA also provides paint and coating manufacturers with the opportunity to exhibit improvements in resource efficiency across the supply chain.

Notably, the PCR for Metal Coil and Extrusion Coatings specifies that the type of EPD created shall be cradle to grave, requiring the following life cycle stages: Production (A1 to A3); Construction (A4 to A5); Use (B1 to B7); and End-of-Life (C1 to C4). The life cycle stage, Benefits & Loads Beyond System Boundary (Module D), is optional. This PCR requires metal coil and extrusion coatings to be assessed as a product system, as opposed to individual coatings or layers.