Bio-based Coatings Survey: 'Prices Will Decline'

Bio-based raw materials for coatings have occupied a place so far, but there are obvious signs that this situation may change. We have asked you, our reader, what do you think of this? What's important and what's the expected difficulty is what paint is online coatingol.com. The results are self-evident.

Yes, they have existed for a long time. Bio-based coatings are actually older than their fossil counterparts. Vegetable oils still play an important role today, but most of the paints and varnishes sold are based on fossil materials. Since the "Future Friday" campaign began, plant-based raw materials have become the focus of attention. But what is the future of this industry? In our survey, 160 experts from the industry responded. In our survey, 77% of the respondents said that bio-based coatings were more important than those five years ago. Nearly 21% of the respondents thought that bio-based coatings were equally important. Only 2.5% of the respondents thought that bio-based coatings were less important than those five years ago. However, it depends on the position of the respondents in the value chain.

The highest scores are raw material manufacturers, distributors and others (many research institutes and consultants can be found here). Coatings manufacturers are more cautious, but they also believe that bio-based solutions are more important than five years ago, apparently accounting for 68.5%. However, as some people in the survey mentioned, when discussing related topics such as sustainability and natural resources, a clear definition of what the biological base actually is will help avoid confusion.

Therefore, in addition to a particularly environmentally friendly customer base, cost plays a key role in the conversion of bio-based raw materials. Most respondents (40%) expected the cost-benefit ratio of bio-based raw materials to be acceptable within five years. A total of 38% said it would take three years, while nearly 22% thought it would take another seven years. It is worth noting that the paint manufacturers themselves still answer this question more conservatively than the original material manufacturers. Even fewer than 30% thought the cost would be higher in three years, while at least 26% thought it would take at least seven years. Raw material manufacturers themselves are more optimistic. Almost 47% of the respondents believed that there would be a better price performance in three years. One user commented: "Once the quantity increases, the price of bio-based materials is likely to fall. Companies should believe that."

High cost is the first threat

Participants in the survey are also well aware that cost is also the greatest risk of the conversion of bio-based raw materials. From one (the highest risk) to four (the lowest risk), the coefficient is finally 1.84. Supply chain risk ranked second, at 2.52, followed by life cycle assessment (2.77) and the impact of agricultural and social impacts (2.88). For all threats, participants gave a wide range of ratings. Several comments from some participants also illustrated this point.

In particular, the possible competition for food supply was discussed controversially. "In Europe and other countries, there is enough agricultural land to grow and use bio-based materials," one user commented. The user also pointed out that vegetable oils are very cost-effective. Another user wrote: "It is essential for me to promote bio-based raw materials with less environmental impact by not supporting industrial intensive agriculture or forestry."

production of bio-based raw materials

However, how to produce bio-based paint and varnish raw materials in the future? Basically, there are two options. First, they can be produced as temporary substitutes. Biological materials are fed into established production processes for fossil materials and chemically identical products are produced. For paint manufacturers, this is a relatively simple process, because the adhesives or additives produced in this way are no different from fossil precursors. Therefore, it is not necessary to change the formulation of the coating. Fifty-one percent of those surveyed thought it was a more important production process. On the other hand, 49% of respondents believed that new raw materials were more likely to produce new properties. Therefore, the method of obtaining this raw material has interesting potential, but it can not rely economically and effectively on the production processes and factories already in operation, and more development work is probably needed. The manufacturer of raw materials answers this question in the direction of Plug and Play Solutions (60%), so the desire to continue using existing processes here is even more prominent. Distributors and "other" participants in the paint industry (many research institutions and consultants are hiding here) tend to see the advantages of this new chemistry.

the biggest push of end users

However, there is a broad consensus on the most important industrial areas of bio-based solutions. In all industries, the B2C market is regarded as the most important driving force.