ILC ARTICLE

AkzoNobel announces carbon neutral collaboration with CNR

13th July 2022

AkzoNobel has announced a collaboration with leading carbon neutrality consultancy firm Carbon Neutral Repair (CNR) to support bodyshops manage and reduce the environmental impact of the painting processes.

The collaboration, which is part of AkzoNobel’s ‘Rethink’ sustainability initiative, will give bodyshops total visibility of their energy consumption, VOC and CO2e emissions based on the AkzoNobel paints they use and the processes they follow.

Patrick Bourguignon, Managing Director of AkzoNobel’s Automotive and Specialty Coatings business, said, “We are helping our customers to ‘Rethink’ how our coatings can support them in significantly reducing their energy use, carbon emissions and VOCs in ways that are measurable and demonstrable. We are proud of our collaboration with Dom Napier and his team at Carbon Neutral Repair which we believe is a genuine game-changer for our industry.”

CNR has validated the energy used, and the VOC’s and CO₂e emissions generated during a controlled ‘two-panel repair’ using the CO2eRepairCalculator tool and approved AkzoNobel paints. The energy and emissions were calculated across four separate AkzoNobel approved repair processes and, in recent trials, proved that using Sikkens’ UV coatings system reduces CO₂e emission by up to 33% and energy costs by up to 34%.

Dom Napier, Managing Director of CNR, said, “What this collaboration will deliver is a much greater understanding of a company’s existing emissions within the painting process and the consequences that using a different product or a different process – for example UV curing – will have on their overall carbon footprint.”