The ReThink Next Generation Coatings project, launched by the San Marco Group, has gathered more than 40 proposals from 7 countries, with the aim of identifying innovative compounds and cutting-edge technologies capable of reducing the environmental impact of building products.
From the polymer obtained from car windshields to the pigment that comes from cellulose, the components of tomorrow’s paint systems promise to be surprising.
The initiative has rewarded the Danish clean-technology leader Shark Solutions, which has developed Dispersion PVB, a new binder based on recycled polyvinyl butyral, a polymer obtained entirely from recovered car windshields; Evonik Operations GmbH, a German chemical company whose Coating Additives Business Line proposed Spherilex, a line of silica-based additives with spherical morphology capable of increasing the anti-abrasive properties of coatings, thus reducing the use of polymers and guaranteeing the same durability; and the German group Heubach Colorants, which developed Next Generation Pigments, pigments for colouring pastes developed with the aim of speeding up the dispersion process and, consequently, reducing energy use.
The winner in the Emerging Solutions category was instead Eni, with its solution for capturing and utilising gaseous carbon dioxide through mineralisation. Lastly, in the same category, the jury awarded an honourable mention to the Swiss start-up Impossible Materials GmbH for the development of Cellulose white pigments: an innovative raw material, developed from cellulose, that imitates the structure of naturally white products by aiming to replace titanium dioxide.
The choice of the winning companies concludes a process that has lasted almost a year: during this time, San Marco Group, a leader in the field of paints and varnishes for the building industry, has collected and evaluated in cooperation with Materially, a consultancy company on renewable materials, both solutions already available on the market and research still in the development phase.
For more information visit www.san-marco.com.
