A warning that companies involved in wood finishing processes face tighter limits on solvent emissions and fewer ways of meeting those limits has been sounded by Brian Loye, technical director at Becker Acroma.
He said revision of the existing Guidance Note for Wood Coating Processes (PG6/33) will include the requirements of the EC Solvent Emissions Directive.
And the UK, he said, will be the first to apply the directive, making it the most rigorously regulated country in Europe. A consequence of this, according to Mr Loye, will be more emphasis on the use of waterborne coatings.
These, Mr Loye said, are not only a more environmentally friendly option but also provide a way of complying with increasingly complex legislative demands.
“The removal of large quantities of solvent from the equation not only reduces solvent emissions to the atmosphere but also improves the working environment for both the end-user and the producer of the coatings,” he added.
Becker Acroma has invested heavily in this technology to the extent that a third of its total UK production is now composed of a range of waterborne coatings leaving the company well placed to deal with the pending changes.
