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“Bio-based ingredients do not necessarily have a better PCF”
Bio-based does not automatically mean a lower carbon footprint: Dr Toine Biemans from Worlée Chemie explains why sustainable raw materials for coatings need a closer look — and where the biggest opportunities lie to replace fossil-based components. Interview by Sarah Silva
There is still a lot of scope to replace fossil-based components.
Dr Toine Biemans, Manager Sustainability and Scientific Academic Partnerships at Worlée Chemie, discusses how consumer preferences impact bio-based coating development and how resin sustainability can be enhanced.
How do consumer preferences for eco-friendly coatings impact bio-based coating R&D?
Dr Toine Biemans: Until recently, eco-friendly coatings were more or less synonymous with using bio-based ingredients. But now some customers are additionally asking for carbon footprint data. And as it turns out, bio-based raw materials do not necessarily have a better carbon footprint: at least in a cradle-to-gate approach and not considering biogenic storage of CO₂. So this potentially leads to a divergence of eco-friendly coating resin development: bio-based as well as low-PCF coating resins.
What are the main challenges for R&D in this area?
Biemans: The challenge is to satisfy all customers without exponentially expanding our product portfolio. We achieve this by incorporating PCF considerations in our product R&D and by working closely with our suppliers to try and find raw materials that are bio-based and contribute to a low PCF.
Where do you see the biggest need and opportunity for future development work?
Biemans: Alkyd resins have a high bio-based content as they are based on vegetable oils. We saw an opportunity some time ago to replace these oils with more sustainably grown oils, which reduces the PCF. Sustainable resin development can benefit from more such opportunities. One of the biggest needs is to replace fossil-based aromatic components such as phthalic anhydride with more sustainable, bio-based substances. Fortunately, we have soon-to-be commercialised collaborations to address this need.
