WAF Special
AkzoNobel goes for gold in the paint industry Fresh from their success in winning global recognition as the top sustainable paint manufacturer, Jeremy Rowe( MD, AkzoNobel Decorative Paints SESAME) talks to B & I.
THERE IS SOMETHING to be said about being on top of your game and that is, staying there; case in point, the No. 1 spot on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index( DJSI) for the 4th year in succession! A milestone that AkzoNobel, a leading global paints and coatings company and a major producer of specialty chemicals, attributes to continual commitment to best practices in business, resource efficiency and strategic partnerships. To its end-user segments, namely, Buildings and Infrastructure, Transportation, Consumer Goods and Industrial, this accolade is manifested in the delivery of innovative products and sustainable technologies worldwide. On the DJSI ranking and other matters uniquely AkzoNobel, B & I caught up with Mr Jeremy Rowe, Managing Director, AkzoNobel Decorative Paints, South East & South Asia, Middle East.
B & I: Firstly, our belated congratulations to AkzoNobel for your No. 1 spot on the DJSI, 4 years in a row! To the consumer, how and where is this sustainability manifested / translated?
JR: We find that, increasingly, probably first with architects, interior designers and
now consumers, they care about where the product comes from, where it is made, how it is made, how was it put together and how the products impacts on the bigger environment, which is what sustainability is all about. It is critical for the team at AkzoNobel to make sure that our sustainability is measured externally, by a third party. The DJSI is a good way to do it because it is global, it is external and independent.
We have to submit a lot of information of what we do, how we manage our product, how we design and make things, and then they figure out the ranking, that’ s their job. To date, we have been in the top 3 for 10 years and No. 1 for the last 4 years. Such recognition translate into a simple message that when consumers buy our products, they can be sure that they are buying from a very sustainable paint company.
Two of the biggest drivers for sustainability of paint, meaning its carbon footprint and effect on the environment, are how you design and make the product. Design means what’ s in it, i. e., the choice of raw materials suppliers you work with and then the way the products are formulated. That’ s a lot of choices there, for example, a particular ingredient is to be put in, let’ s
Mr Jeremy Rowe, Managing Director, AkzoNobel Decorative Paints, South East & South Asia, Middle East.
say, to help fight bacteria; you can choose a sustainable or non-sustainable way to do that – we choose the sustainable route.
Sometimes it costs slightly more but we absorb that cost because we don’ t think that people should have to pay for a more sustainable product. From that standpoint, consumers can choose to buy Dulux Weathershield with heat reflective technology which has this special feature where, firstly, you spend less money on energy to cool the house and, secondly the radiation is reflected straight back out, into the atmosphere. For interior walls, for example, the special feature of Dulux Light and Space is to reflect more light internally making rooms, corridors, stairwells brighter; you can actually reduce the wattage of your lights and use less energy.
B & I: What are the other DJSI criteria or measurements of sustainability?
JR: There are some others that people would not recognise quite so much, like we get our paint to last longer and stay cleaner, meaning longevity and durability. Another DJSI criterion is manufacturing, i. e., eco-efficiency of production, solar lighting, waste-water
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