CASE STUDY
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TACKLING PROBLEMS ALONG THE VALUE CHAIN IN THE PAINT INDUSTRY The paint industry faces challenges to balance at-times conflicting demands – but experts at Crown Paints are looking at solutions at both ends of the product lifecycle.
be durable. This is an important property of paints and another sustainability aspect, especially for paints applied in exterior surfaces which are expected to last longer but, at the same time, are directly exposed to weather conditions and are therefore more prone to wear-and-tear. The issue of paint waste is also high on the sustainability agenda. Crown operates the can-back scheme, where customers can return their empty paint cans to be recycled, and the Kick Out The Can initiative, where customers return their leftover paint which is then converted to recycled paint. Both are delivered across the UK through Crown’s store network, and both accept packaging and paint from any paint brand.
Companies need to give consumers top- quality products that satisfy functional requirements while minimising environmental impact at a competitive price. Sustainability is very important for Crown Paints, which has undertaken several initiatives to optimise their products. One key area is the use of sustainable raw materials. Crown Paints is looking into the possibility of using bio-based and recycled raw materials in their products, and is analysing their pros and cons. These materials often have lower carbon footprint, but it is important to assess their performance across several sustainability impact categories. One of the challenges here is that low- carbon and sustainable solutions must also
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