First fully automated paint factory for bio-based UV coatings

The Italian wood coatings manufacturer IVM chemicals presented the results of the EU-supported "Life BioPaint" project. The company is now running the first fully automated paint factory for wood coatings with a high degree of bio-based carbon.

During an online presentation IVM showed the capabilities of the newly erected paint factory in Northern Italy. The pilot plant has an initial capacity of 2000 tons per year, however, a possible expansion of the plant in the future is already accounted for.

As Marcello Vitale, Project Manager of the "Life BioPaint" project, explained that the plant addresses multiple areas of paint production to reduce environmental impact of coatings productions. Firstly, the plant uses bio-based raw materials and produces paints and coatings with very high shares of bio-based carbon and even 100 % bio-based coatings.

No VOC emissions

As second step the plant is build to use as little energy during production as possible. Also, it is fully automated and closed-circuit to ensure the complete avoidance of production rejects and as well as VOC emissions during production.

Energy consumption also plays an important role in coatings application. To keep the demand low, the plant only produces 100 % UV-curable products.

Sustainable raw materials

In a second presentation Kiril Maister of Green Delta explained in detail how the environmental impacts of the plant were calculated. Aside from waste reduction (-80 %) and energy consumption (-30 %) the raw material impact was a focus of his presentation. As he explained, the source of the bio-based raw materials plays a major role. For example, a common used bio-raw material is itaconic acid, which can be derived from corn or rice biproducts. As Maister showed, rice-based itaconic acid has a much lower environmental impact than corn-based itaconic acid.