Invest 158 ​​million! Akzo Nobel continues to expand

Akzo Nobel is investing 20 million euros (approximately 158 million yuan) to increase the production capacity of its powder coatings in Como, Italy, which shows that the company intends to strengthen its market position and increase its focus on green manufacturing.

The Como plant has become Akzo Nobel's largest powder coating production plant in Europe, and will expand its production capacity for automotive coatings on this basis. The new plant will provide strategic support for Akzo Nobel's Arnsberg plant in Germany (which is also adding new production lines) to help ensure customer supply.

Como's additional capacity will be installed in a refurbished building that was originally used to make powder coatings, which is a sustainable use of the historical part of the site. In addition to introducing advanced equipment and technology to provide higher productivity and efficiency improvements, the new plant in Como will also use recycled energy to reduce energy consumption.

Prior to this, Akzo Nobel has invested in China and Vietnam to install more environmentally friendly facilities and production methods, which in turn will help achieve sustainable development ambitions.

Daniela Vlad, Akzo Nobel's powder coatings business director, explained: "We are implementing a structured expansion plan to increase our production capacity in Como and Arnsberg." "This will help strengthen our market position and meet Support us when there is a supply issue."

The state-of-the-art new building in Como and the additional production line in Arnsberg will help it continue to develop with customers, especially in the automotive sector. And, as with any new building, the focus is on meeting the highest standards of sustainable production.

"Although powder coatings are inherently sustainable, we are also committed to making our own buildings and facilities as sustainable as possible," Vlad continued. "The company has clearly stated its ambitious goal of reducing carbon emissions by 50% by 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, so we are accelerating our efforts to embrace renewable energy and introduce more smart manufacturing. technology."

Como made the investment after announcing the expansion of its main factory at the company's Amata industrial park plant in Vietnam in August. The production capacity of marine and protective coatings and wood coatings is increasing, and various sustainability features have been introduced. These include solar power generation, rainwater harvesting and solvent recovery systems.

At the same time, another recent upgrade in Guangzhou, China includes a complete conversion to water-based products. Once fully operational, the decorative coating site will increase the water reuse rate by 70% and reduce waste water by 50%, which will help the company achieve its ambition to achieve 100% water reuse at the most water-consuming sites by 2030 .

These continuous efforts are part of Akzo Nobel's sustainable approach to "people, planets, paint". At present, about 33% of the company's factories use renewable energy, and there are more renewable energy under development, which shows its intention to stay at the forefront of sustainable development in the coatings and coatings industry.