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Using PPG's waterborne paint helps improve the environment.
For a shop that mixes an average of one gallon of basecoat per week, using waterborne automotive paint reduces the emission of VOCs by 300 pounds annually. That's the same as eliminating the emissions of more than 100 cars per year.
Going green with PPG's waterborne automotive paint systems is easy—and won't sacrifice a shop's performance or quality.
Using waterborne automotive paint is good for employees, too.
Since waterborne contains lower VOC than solvent, it is easier to control the air quality inside a shop or spray facility. While standard safety equipment is still required, you can virtually eliminate the harsh odors associated with using solventborne paint throughout your facility.
Environmental Benefits
- Reduces production of volatile organic compounds (VOC)
- Improves air quality
- Promotes health and safety of employees
- Achieves performance and quality with perfect color match
PPG's History of Waterborne Research and Development
No other company has more expertise in advancing waterborne automotive coatings technology than PPG.
Long before most of North America's body shops had even given though to waterborne finishes, PPG was already immersed in it. That's because PPG saw the environmental handwriting on the wall even before it was written andfor the past two decades has been developing and refining its technological expertise in both North America and Europe. Having worked closely with OEMs in their transition to waterborne at vehicle assembly plants, PPG scientists understood early on that the refinish industry would have to move away from solvent-based paints.
They took the steps to address the environmental issues solvent-based paints raised by developing a water-based paint system that produced remarkable results—that turned the heads of the OEMs.
PPG expanded its global research capabilities with the acquisitions of ICI Autocolor and MaxMeyer in the 1990s, solidly establishing itself as the world's waterborne paint leader. That role was reinforced when, in 1992, ICI Autocolor (now Nexa Autocolor) introduced the world's first waterborne refinish system, an innovation that received the United Kingdom's Queens Award for Technology in 1995.
Listening carefully to customer feedback and taking advantage of its expanded global research capabilities, PPG continued to add innovations to its waterborne offerings throughout the 1990s and into the 21st century. For example, in 1998 it was the first to make available a compliant system capable of repairing 3-stage pearl finishes. And in 1999, PPG placed its first brand offering, Envirobase®—a product of its best European and North American waterborne technologies—into body shops. Ferrari was so impressed that it chose Envirobase as its original equipment finish.
The OEM's introduction of new metallic and effects finishes was the driving catalyst for PPG's development in 2005 of new high-opacity toners offering the latest pigments—a significant advancement in waterborne color-match capabilities. These advancements were good reasons why PPG's Aquabase® Plus and Envirobase® High Performance systems became readily accepted for use by collision shops across Europe seeking to comply with the European Union's stricter refinish regulations.
Today in North America, more and more collision shops are making the transition to waterborne as a result of pending new air quality regulations in California and Canada. Thus far, more than 700 collision shops have made the transition to PPG's Envirobase High Performance and Aquabase Plus waterborne basecoats. They can be confident in the fact that Aquabase Plus and Envirobase High Performance systems from PPG represent the culmination of two decades of intense research and development spanning two continents and hundreds of chemists, scientists and color-matching experts.
Waterborne Technology—How Does it Work?
Both Aquabase® Plus and Envirobase® High Performance share the same basics of waterborne technology—a low-VOC, high-tech latex resin pigment designed to stay in suspension, making paint preparation as easy as shaking a bottle.
Color pigments are suspended in a specially-formulated acrylic waterborne latex resin. This resin is designed to do a number of things to make an easy-to-use product:
- Solid latex core delivers durable color
- Latex particles cling together for stability
- Pigment and resin remain suspended and resist settling
What this means is that with PPG's waterborne paint systems you can simply shake, pour, spray, and expect the same performance, accuracy, and durability of solventborne systems.
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