The pursuit of a climate-neutral Europe and a truly circular economy requires attention to virtually all fields of production if fossil-based materials are to be eliminated. This relates not only to manufactured goods but also the paints and coatings used to protect them: Of the almost 1 million tonnes of paints and coatings produced in Europe each year, more than 80% of their ingredients are derived from fossil resources. Reducing the environmental impact of these coatings would represent a major advance towards Europe’s climate ambitions.
To address this challenge, the PERFECOAT project will develop and validate a new generation of industrial wood and decorative coatings with significantly more than 25% bio-based components. The project will address three important high-volume markets for coatings, (i) UV-curable clear coatings, (ii) waterborne Do-It-Yourself (DIY) trim paints, and (iii) DIY waterborne wall paints. These coatings will reach, and even surpass, the current quality and sustainability standards.
When successful, the PERFECOAT project will be able to offer bio-based coating ingredients from climate neutral sources and processes. This will help encourage the uptake of more sustainable coatings, provide a positive impact for the environment, and mitigate climate change.
The overarching objective of the PERFECOAT project is to develop novel sustainable coatings that will ultimately be available to the public. Within this, the project will pursue the following specific objectives:
- From an environmental perspective, the PERFECOAT project will contribute to reducing Europe’s greenhouse gas emissions by developing new industrial bio-based coatings for wood with more than 25% of bio-based components produced from climate neutral sources and processes.
- From an economic perspective, the PERFECOAT project will help to prepare the coating market for new formulations that will be of at least equal performance than existing fossil-based products.
- From a social perspective, the project will demonstrate the potential for creating new job opportunities in the bio-based sector in rural and coastal areas, where urban migration remains a challenge.
- In addition, the project will enhance European leadership in the biotechnology sector and strengthen the EU’s leadership in adopting renewables.
Partners in the project are:
- SINTEF AS (Coordinator)
- SINTEF Ocean
- Technical University of Munich (DE)
- Evonik Operations GmbH (DE)
- Tallinn University of Technology (EE)
- Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine (UK)
- Chromologics APS (DK)
- Celignis Limited (IE)
- Funzionano AS (NO)
- Nova-Institut für Politische und Ökologische Innovation GmbH (DE)
- Remmers Industrielacke GmbH (DE)
- Borregaard AS (NO)
- Organik Kimya (TR)
This project has received funding from the Bio-based Industries Joint Undertaking (JU) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Grant Agreement No 101022370. The JU receives support from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme and the Bio-based Industries Consortium.
