As a key area for VOCs emission reduction, the coatings industry is very difficult to control, especially in the use link, such as steel structures, containers, ships, guardrails, traffic routes and other outdoor work coatings, the operability of VOCs end treatment is very poor. Although government departments promote the use of new materials such as water-based coatings and implement the "oil ban" to restrict organic solvent coatings, traditional solvent coatings still account for half of the total market.
Despite this, the innovation model of my country's coatings industry has begun to improve, and the application of new materials and new technologies in the coatings industry is still on the rise.
Reducing VOCs emissions in the coatings industry is an arduous task
The seventh round of intensive inspections by the Ministry of Environmental Protection's Air Pollution Prevention and Control Supervision Group inspected a total of 5.322 enterprises (units) and found 1.389 enterprises (units) with environmental problems. Among them, 536 enterprises had VOCs treatment problems, accounting for 38.6% of the total number of enterprises with environmental problems found in this round of inspections. From an industry perspective, painting and spraying are the primary problems, and it is common for enterprises to have no supporting construction or idle or stop operating VOCs management facilities.
"The characteristics of the coating industry are concentrated emissions and pollution. About 7 million tons of solvents evaporate every year, which is more serious than automobile exhaust pollution."
my country is a major coating production country, but not a strong country. In addition, we do not have the core technology for some high-end coating products. Even the coatings used in high-speed rail are mostly from foreign companies. "A large number of low-end coating products have become the main source of VOCs emissions in the industry. However, affected by various factors, solvent-based coatings still have huge market demand for a certain period of time.
The market share of powder coatings continues to increase
Powder coatings are solid powder coatings formed in the form of powders. The powder is transferred to the coating, and the coating is formed after baking, melting and curing. In the manufacturing process of powder coatings, zero waste and zero pollution are achieved, and the residual materials generated in production can basically be recycled. Powder coatings can meet the requirements of many fields such as anti-corrosion and decoration, and the utilization rate of powder spraying is high. Under the condition of the same film thickness, the coating area of powder coatings is more than double that of traditional solvent-based coatings. From the cost point of view, among the several commonly used types of coatings, the price of powder coatings is also the lowest. Catalytic combustion equipment
At present, powder coatings have been widely used in home appliances, automobile wheels Hub, metal doors and windows and other fields, the industry market share continues to rise, and has now reached about 10%. It is reported that my country's powder coating companies are mainly distributed in the three major coating industry bases in coastal areas, the Yangtze River Delta, the Pearl River Delta and the Bohai Rim, and powder coating sales account for 94% of the country.
Difficulties faced by the transformation and upgrading of the coating industry
At present, China's coating industry is in a critical stage of transformation from traditional manufacturing to green and high-end, but it still faces multiple difficulties in the process of transformation and upgrading:
Environmental protection pressure and technical bottlenecks
With the advancement of the "dual carbon" goals, the country's control over VOC emissions has become increasingly strict, but the core technologies of environmentally friendly products such as water-based coatings and high-solid coatings are still monopolized by foreign-funded enterprises. Domestic companies' insufficient R&D investment (only 1.5% of revenue on average, lower than the international level of 3%) has led to the reliance on imports of key materials such as high-performance resins and additives.
The contradiction between cost and market acceptance
The production cost of environmentally friendly coatings is 30%-50% higher than that of traditional solvent-based coatings, but downstream industries such as construction and furniture are sensitive to prices. Some small and medium-sized enterprises still choose low-priced and low-quality products to control costs, forming the phenomenon of "bad money driving out good money".
Insufficient coordination in the industrial chain
The performance upgrade of coatings needs to be synchronized with the innovation of substrate processing and construction technology. At present, the degree of standardization of domestic coatings is low, and the skills of construction personnel are uneven, which affects the actual application effect of high-performance coatings.
Intensified international competition
Foreign brands have seized high-end markets such as industrial coatings and automotive coatings with their technological advantages. 90% of the domestic ship coatings and 80% of the automotive OEM coatings market are occupied by foreign capital, and local companies have difficulty breaking through.
Breakthrough suggestions: It is necessary to increase R&D subsidies through policy guidance, establish an industry-university-research collaborative innovation platform, and at the same time improve the green product certification system to promote the coordinated upgrading of the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain.
