Sustainability

Paint, coating and printing ink industries have a long history of sustainable practices.

They provide products that protect, sustain and add value to the built environment, our infrastructure, and the objects we depend on every day.

The industry continues to reduce its environmental footprint. It embraces sustainability by increasing resource recovery, reducing and eliminating hazardous emissions, and offering products formulated to meet specific safety requirements. It is also supportive of efforts to conduct "life-cycle analyses" that evaluate all of the relevant environmental impacts and benefits from preserving and protecting the global infrastructure.

The World Coatings Council believes that sustainability programs should be developed and implemented by individual associations in a manner that allows for consistency and harmonisation across the globe.

The New Zealand Paint Manufacturers Association is working to facilitate and hold enhance sustainability programs on behalf of our members in New Zealand.

The NZPMA is also working on creating consistent messages and comparable metrics when implementing sustainability programs. By pursuing conformity with other international associations, the NZPMA will be able to compare best practices and indicators of performance, and ultimately, companies can reference consistent programs.

The World Coatings Council developed guidelines for national and regional associations to consider when implementing their sustainability programs to provide a useful organisational framework and ensure harmonisation across the globe.

The World Coatings Councill has also organised its ongoing industry stewardship and issue management efforts to align with established sustainability principles and life-cycle "thinking", this to advise and direct the global effort towards sustainable development.