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Letter to the Editor
Thursday June 21
BASF Coatings Receives Japan's First Eco Mark for Automotive Refinish Paint
Eco-friendly products from the R-M(R) automotive refinish coatings system by BASF Coatings have been certified as "Eco Mark Paints" and recognized as suitable for environmental preservation by the Eco Mark Office of the Japan Environment Association. The R-M brand is the first automotive refinish paint in Japan to receive the Eco Mark certification.The emission of volatile organic compounds (VOC) is used as the measure for Eco Mark certification of automotive refinish paints, and the European VOC emissions regulation standard was adopted as the reference value for certification (enacted by the Japan Environment Association in April 2007). Certification was granted to the R-M brand because it has already cleared the VOC emissions regulation standard in Europe.
“We are very proud of our eco-friendly products certified as Japan's first eco-mark refinish paints, “ stated Kazuyuki Nakatsubo, Business Manager, Automotive Refinish and Commercial Transport Coatings Solutions, BASF Coatings Japan Ltd. " Boosted by this Eco Mark certification, we intend to position eco-friendly products as the main line of our portfolio. The advantages for all parties are obvious. Consumers can now easily decide on environmentally friendly products. We will further support the widespread use of eco-friendly coatings in the Japanese refinish market."
Although Japan's automotive refinish coatings market is the second largest in the world following the market in the U.S., the dissemination rate of low VOC paint including waterborne paint is 4 percent. Compared to the 48 percent dissemination rate in the automotive OEM coatings industry and to the dissemination rate in all other coatings industry segments, environmental measures are the most delayed in the automotive refinish coatings industry.
New VOC regulations in Japan were enforced on April 1, 2006, but most of the approximately 40,000 bodyshops located throughout Japan are not regulated by law but are the target of voluntary initiatives. Therefore it still falls short of the widespread changeover to waterborne paints.
Japan's Eco Mark program is one of the oldest eco-labeling programs after the Blue Angel and was introduced in 1989 as a certification program that aims to spread information on the environmental effects of products and to encourage consumers to choose environmentally friendly products. The Japan Environment Association, a not-for-profit organization operates the program. The Eco Mark program is managed in accordance with ISO 14020 and 14024 and currently has 47 product categories and has awarded 5,239 products (as of March 31, 2007).
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