Unlocking the future of sustainable packaging: can coatings

Policymakers and regulators across Europe are sending clear signals that industry must accelerate towards a future without packaging waste, and metal packaging is critical to achieving this. Sherwin-Williams continued innovation through its can coating technologies can unlock the future of Europe's sustainable packaging industry.

Sarah Dubail is a Senior Regulatory Analyst at Sherwin-Williams Packaging Coatings

Packaging plays an essential role in our daily lives, from preserving and protecting products to allowing the global transportation of goods and increasing product integrity. However, packaging waste is an escalating and pervasive global issue.

Metal packaging is globally recognised as an optimal solution for facilitating the future of the circular economy, with aluminium cans recycled at higher rates than any other beverage container. In fact, 75% of aluminium that has ever been made is still in use today.

In Europe, initiatives such as the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) aim to significantly reduce packaging waste by 2040 through encouraging reuse and recycling.

However, achieving this goal is a task for the whole packaging supply chain. At Sherwin-Williams, we are committed to unlocking the potential of the metal can through a steadfast commitment to developing high-performing, innovative can coatings.

For metal cans to work as a reliable packaging solution, they need can coatings manufacturers like Sherwin-Williams to innovate and develop new technologies that enable Europe’s sustainable packaging objectives. Crucially, can coatings are formulated to ensure compatibility with hundreds of different product requirements and have no impact on the recyclability of the can.

Without coatings, food and beverage in metal cans would not retain their long shelf life, product integrity would decrease, and product spoilage could increase.

To provide the perfect solution for our customers, we developed valPure® V70 non-BPA coatings.

In recent years the industry has been challenged to develop new technologies that do not contain Bisphenol A (BPA), a key monomer used in traditional epoxy coating technologies. The team at Sherwin-Williams took on the challenge of developing an epoxy coating without the use of BPA.

Embarking on a 10-year research and development programme, we worked with NGOs, independent laboratories, toxicologists, and universities, to develop the industry’s first non-BPA epoxy coating technology that could be used across the beverage, food, household and personal care sectors.

valPure® V70 is the first epoxy coating technology that meets the industry’s increasing need for non-BPA options, while delivering all the performance benefits of traditional epoxy coatings.

Without continued innovation in can coatings, the metal packaging industry would not be able to bring new products to market. At Sherwin-Williams, we work tirelessly to ensure our can coating technologies enable Europe’s future sustainable packaging requirements, supporting a fully circular European economy.

Our latest White Paper on the critical role that can coatings play in enabling the use of sustainable packaging sheds light on the importance of innovative can coating technologies in delivering the sustainability, economic and health benefits of the metal can.

For more information on how Sherwin Williams is enabling the future of sustainable packaging, click here to read their White Paper on can coatings.