Media Release | For Immediate Release | 2 June 2020
Australian paint manufacturers voice support for construction and renovation stimulus
The Australian Paint Manufacturers Federation (APMF) has backed calls for fiscal stimulus for home building and renovations to aid Australia’s economic recovery from the impacts of COVID-19.
The APMF said economic stimulus was needed to help construction workers and tradies who have lost their livelihood during the recent health crisis get back to work.
Australia’s construction sector is a key driver of the Australian economy, peaking at approximately $200 billion in 2018/19*. More than 1.1 million Australians – including 51,000 trade painters – are employed in construction, accounting for approximately nine per cent of all Australian jobs. Residential building work, including new dwellings and renovations, was valued at $75 billion in 2018/19.
APMF Chairman Pat Jones said efforts to keep the construction industry working will be crucial for the economy, as any downturn in construction activity will impact jobs in many other sectors that support building activity in Australia.
“A lot of trade painters have already lost work as a result of COVID-19,” he said.
“These professional painters are often sole traders who have had jobs cancelled due to lock down measures stemming from the recent health crisis.”
“Economic stimulus to support home building construction and renovation activity in Australia will really help these trade painters recover and get back to work.
“The benefit of supporting the construction industry goes well beyond the direct employees, with a large number of inputs being made in Australia. For example, 90 per cent of paint used in Australia is made locally.
“By supporting new work and jobs in the construction sector, the stimulus will create a flow-on effect to support other manufacturing jobs in the economy.
“It’s a win-win for any worker that relies on the building and construction industry.”
* Master Builders Association, Building Industry Forecasts, August 2019
Media contact:
Shayna Welsh – swelsh@chemistryaustralia.org.au or 0448 660 443
The Australian Paint Manufacturers Federation (APMF) represents the highly innovative paint and coatings sector, which continues to develop new, advanced paint and coatings solutions to enhance and protect a vast range of products, buildings and structures in Australia’s built environment. More than 80 per cent of paint sold in Australia is made locally. The industry produces $2.7 billion worth of surface coating products annually and directly employees more than 7,500 people at sites around Australia. The Australian Paint Manufacturers’ Federation Inc (APMF) was established in 1947 and currently represents 40 member companies.
Media Release | For Immediate Release | 26 March 2020
Australian paint manufacturers ready to support demand for hand sanitiser
Members of the Australian Paint Manufacturers Federation (APMF) are ready to redeploy their manufacturing operations to meet unprecedented Government and community demand for hospital grade hand sanitiser.
The APMF has written to the Federal Government to offer its support in national efforts to co-ordinate and accelerate production of items essential to reducing the spread of Coronavirus.
APMF Executive Officer Bernard Lee said domestic paint manufacturers are uniquely positioned to respond quickly to demand for hand sanitisers.
“Many of our members already have the strategic and operational capacity to start producing products like hand sanitiser,” he said.
“Their plants are set up to mix large batches of raw materials, they have the necessary regulatory licences, and their work forces are trained and experienced with the handling of the raw materials in a manufacturing environment.”
“Several APMF members already have stocks of the necessary raw materials and are willing to use these to make hand sanitiser.”
“Our members stand ready to assist in the fight against COVID-19 and we look forward to working with Federal and State Governments to meet demand for these critical products.”
The Australian Paint Manufacturers Federation represents the paint and coatings industry, which is a vital part of Australia’s industrial manufacturing base.
Anti-bacterial and easily cleaned coatings are used in hospitals, aged care centres and other key contact points to help prevent and control bacteria and associated illnesses. Coatings are also used in the manufacture other essential items, including ventilators, medical equipment, PPE and food grade packaging and containers.
Media contact:
Shayna Welsh – swelsh@chemistryaustralia.org.au or 0448 660 443
The Australian Paint Manufacturers Federation (APMF) represents the highly innovative paint and coatings sector, which continues to develop new, advanced paint and coatings solutions to enhance and protect a vast range of products, buildings and structures in Australia’s built environment. More than 80 per cent of paint sold in Australia is made locally. The industry produces $2.7 billion worth of surface coating products annually and directly employees more than 7,500 people at sites around Australia. The Australian Paint Manufacturers’ Federation Inc (APMF) was established in 1947 and currently represents 40 member companies.
MEDIA RELEASE – 01/18
February 2018
ZERO VOC PAINT CLAIMS
In an ever increasingly competitive marketplace, paint companies are looking for different ways to promote their products. This includes highlighting the environmental or green credentials of their products. One criteria that has been used as a differentiator is the Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) content of paint.
Richard Phillips, Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Paint Manufacturers’ federation, states that “VOCs are volatile organic compounds that can be naturally occurring or can be made via a chemical process. Whilst the VOC content in modern water-based coatings may be very small, they still play an important role in enhancing its performance, including assisting the paint flow to enable an even coating coverage. It is also important for the customer to be aware of the true impact on the environment from painting, what VOCs mean and especially the questionable use of terms, such as ‘Zero VOC’ or ‘VOC free’”.
Paint is made up of a number of ingredients. Some are from naturally occurring substances such as minerals, clays and natural oils. Other ingredients include binder, pigments and additives which are synthetically derived from different chemical processes. All components need to undergo some degree of washing, refinement, processing or chemical treatment, so they can be successfully used to make paint. These production steps necessitate the use of different process aids, including substances that are classed as VOCs.
Although every effort is made to remove these VOCs through drying and purifying, there will inevitably be trace amounts in the finished raw materials that are used to make the paint and tinting pastes that are needed to be used. Therefore, there is no such thing as a truly 100% VOC-free or Zero VOC paint, as all paints will contain very small trace amounts of VOCs through their raw materials.
There are several key contributors to the environmental footprint of household paint: The extraction/production of the raw materials; the cost of transporting paint from factory to retail outlet to your home; and how long the painted surface will last before it needs repainting, or how durable the paint film is. This last aspect is of particular interest – a durable long-lasting paint is much better for the environment.
Given that no paint is truly VOC free, the Council of the Australian Paint Manufacturers Federation agreed in 2017 not to use the term ‘Zero VOC’ or similar words in the promotion of paint products.
Richard Phillips also points out that unfortunately there are a very small number of paint suppliers persisting with the use of Zero/VOC-free claims for their products despite the industry’s best efforts to bring the issue to their attention. Terms such as “Low VOC” is an acceptable industry-wide term for paints with low levels of VOC.
Finally, many paints which claim “Zero VOC/VOC-free” credentials are based on natural clays and oils rather than synthetic binders, such as vinyl or acrylic. This has an impact on how resistant the paint film isto water or to damage. Generally, synthetic-binder based paints will provide a much more durable and resistant paint film, so would be expected to last longer than a clay paint. Thus, walls with these clay paints may need repainting more often and the clay paints would not score so well when viewed from an overall environmental-footprint approach. Thus, perversely, ‘Zero VOC’ clay paints may actually be more harmful to the environment than standard synthetic-binder based paints, due to this increased maintenance cycle.
In conclusion, the message to consumers is to take a minute to consider and evaluate whether they’ve chosen the right paint for the job and that whatever claims associated with the product, especially regarding the impact on the environment, are accurate and can be justified.
Contact
Richard Phillips
Chief Executive Officer
Australian Paint Manufacturers’ Federation Inc.
MOB 0409 986 113