Accelerating sustainable decorative paints with a holistic binder and additive portfolio

For decades, the paint industry has evolved through continuous improvements in product performance, application efficiency, and regulatory compliance. This journey has driven major advances in reducing VOC emissions and eliminating substances of concern from formulations.

Today, the sustainability agenda is reshaping the decorative coatings industry. Increasingly stringent regulations, corporate commitments such as SBTi targets, green building certification schemes, and growing consumer expectations for more sustainable consumption are accelerating the industry's transition toward lower-carbon and lower-impact solutions across the value chain.

As demand for more environmentally responsible decorative paints is accelerating, formulators are challenged to deliver outstanding performance and aesthetics while reducing environmental impacts.

To support this transition, Arkema has built partnerships across the value chain to develop a holistic approach combining innovation in binders and additives. The result is a comprehensive portfolio of solutions that can be tailored to specific formulation requirements, sustainability objectives, and cost-performance targets.

Watch the webinar recording

In this webinar, Hélène Pernot, Global Sustainability Marketing Director, and Yohann Trang, Global Market Director for Architectural & Construction Materials at Arkema, share insights into the key trends shaping the decorative paints market and discuss practical pathways to developing more sustainable formulations toward lower-carbon and circular solutions across the value chain.

The future of more sustainable decorative paints is not a distant concept. In this webinar, Arkema presents practical, sample-ready binder technologies that customers can evaluate today, helping turn sustainability goals into real formulation opportunities.

Learn how our holistic approach combines:

Advanced binder and additive technologies
More sustainable feedstock options
Collaboration across the value chain
Tailored solutions that balance sustainability, performance, and cost objectives

*Source: COATING WORLD Webinar - Kerry Pianoforte Lombardo (September 2026)

Sustainability trends are raising expectations for decorative paints

The decorative paints industry is evolving in response to changing market expectations, building certification schemes and sustainability initiatives. While coatings represent only a portion of a building's overall environmental footprint, manufacturers are increasingly looking for ways to contribute to sustainability objectives through formulation design and raw material selection.

For formulators, the challenge is not only to reduce environmental impact, but also to continue delivering the performance, durability and aesthetics expected by customers.

Why Product Carbon Footprint matters?

A key topic discussed during the webinar is the growing importance of Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) as a tool for evaluating formulation choices.

Understanding the carbon footprint associated with raw materials and finished products helps formulators identify opportunities for improvement and make more informed decisions. As regulations and voluntary initiatives continue to develop, carbon footprint data is becoming an increasingly valuable element in formulation design and product selection.

Looking beyond bio-bontent

One of the webinar's key messages is that sustainability cannot be evaluated through bio-content alone.

While bio-based materials can play an important role, formulators must also consider broader factors such as carbon footprint, feedstock sourcing, product performance and overall formulation efficiency. A balanced approach helps ensure that sustainability objectives are aligned with technical and commercial requirements.

A portfolio approach to sustainable paint formulations

Arkema's approach relies on a broad portfolio of technologies designed to support formulators at different stages of their sustainability journey. By combining innovations across both binders and additives, manufacturers can explore multiple pathways to achieve their formulation objectives while maintaining the required balance between sustainability, performance and affordability.

Sustainable binder technologies

Binders represent a significant part of a paint formulation and can play an important role in efforts to lower product carbon footprint. In this webinar, our experts present several practical approaches to incorporating renewable and alternative feedstocks while maintaining the performance required for decorative coatings. Beyond the concepts, they also introduce a new portfolio of binder solutions that are already available for testing, providing concrete options formulators can evaluate today to support their sustainability goals.

Additives supporting formulation sustainability

Alongside binders, additives can also contribute to formulation strategies aimed at improving sustainability profiles. From rheology modifiers to specialty additives, these technologies help formulators optimise key performance properties while supporting broader sustainability objectives.

Bio-Based and bio-attributed solutions

The webinar explores how both bio-based and bio-attributed solutions can contribute to lower carbon footprint formulations.

Rather than viewing these approaches as competing alternatives, Arkema presents them as complementary options that allow formulators to choose the most appropriate solution depending on product requirements, supply chain constraints and sustainability goals.

The role of diverse feedstocks

Expanding the range of available feedstocks is an important part of supporting the coatings industry's sustainability transition.

The use of bio-based feedstocks alongside other alternative raw material sources enables greater flexibility while helping address market demand for lower carbon footprint solutions.

Supporting the transition with mass balance approaches

The webinar also discusses the role of mass balance methodologies in supporting the integration of renewable feedstocks into existing value chains.

These approaches can provide an additional pathway for increasing the availability of solutions associated with renewable resources while maintaining established manufacturing processes and product performance.

Balancing sustainability, performance and affordability

A consistent message throughout the webinar is that sustainability objectives cannot be considered independently from performance and affordability.

To achieve meaningful adoption, decorative paint formulations must continue to meet customer expectations regarding durability, aesthetics and application properties while remaining commercially viable.

This balance remains a key focus for coatings manufacturers as they navigate evolving market requirements.

Collaboration across the value chain

Delivering more sustainable decorative paints requires collaboration across the entire coatings value chain.

Raw material suppliers, paint manufacturers, distributors, certification bodies and building industry stakeholders all have a role to play in advancing formulation sustainability and supporting greater transparency around sustainability metrics.

The webinar highlights how partnerships across the value chain can help accelerate progress and support informed decision-making.

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