Article text excerpted from 2017-6-3 China Coatings News: Chen Dongmei

Nowadays, the country's heavy-handed governance of environmental pollution, "oil to water" policy, with the enhancement of people's awareness of environmental protection, changes in consumer behavior, with environmentally friendly water-based coatings to replace solvent-based coatings has been imperative, energy-saving and environmentally friendly water-based coatings ushered in an unprecedented opportunity for development, the market development momentum is strong trend.

We all know that water-based paint is water as a dispersing medium, in layman's terms, that is, water-based paint is water to adjust the paint, water paint in the spraying and drying process is volatile water, it's very little VOC emissions. Solvent-based paint in the spraying and drying process there are a large number of diluents, that is, organic solvents to be volatile, resulting in a large number of VOC. data show that the water-based paint VOC emissions than solvent-based coatings can be reduced by 60% -70%. Therefore, water-based coatings are increasingly favored by people.

As people's awareness of environmental protection continues to grow, the national environmental protection action has not been interrupted, and with the passage of time, environmental protection has penetrated into all aspects of people's lives, work, people are gradually entering the "environmental" life. Coupled with the industry's environmental governance, governments around the country on the "oil to water" is even more determined. This year, governments around the industry's environmental remediation can be described as a wave after wave. For example: May 1, Shenzhen region officially banned the use of solvent-based coatings and solvent-based adhesives in the region; this year, Beijing's furniture manufacturing industry to ban the use of solvent-based coatings for spraying operations; Xi'an region from April, prohibited the sale of diluent containing high volatile toxic and harmful in the market and increase the city's sales of decorative coatings products volatile organic compounds content of supervisory monitoring frequency and Control efforts to promote water-soluble and other environmentally friendly decorative coatings gradually replace or occupy the market.

Comprehensive "oil to water" trend is approaching, the reshuffle of the painting industry has begun to accelerate. Under the general trend, enterprises are optimistic about the prospects for the development of water-based coatings, have increased investment in water-based coating projects. When the solvent-based coatings in the environmental pressure of the scenery is no longer, for many solvent-based coatings enterprises, resolve to embark on the road of water-based may be the only way out, a belong to the era of water-based coatings has quietly come. From solvent-based coatings to water-based coatings, is the progress of technology, but also the inevitable transformation and upgrading of the coatings industry.

According to media reports, more than a thousand domestic paint enterprises in the "oil to water" transition stage, most companies are still only in the R & D stage, applied to the finished product enterprise products are few and far between, the current production of waterborne coatings are mainly used in the steel structure, furniture, container market. In the field of water-based coatings, the market is in a state of dragons and dragons, on the one hand, the relevant policies prohibit the production of oil-based coatings, on the other hand, the production of water-based coatings, the need to have a certain core technology. The core production technology of water-based coatings has been monopolized and closed by foreign production enterprises. Foreign enterprises to earn high profits, only sell products without selling technology, resulting in the domestic oil to water enterprises without mature technology available. In addition, water-based coatings used in equipment investment, storage conditions require high operating costs, spray booth constant temperature and humidity on the energy demand is very large. And many of the old factory converted to adapt to the water-based paint process is more difficult, which makes the enterprise in a dilemma: that is, the intention to produce water-based coatings, but forced to capital, technical constraints, solvent-borne coatings market and the restrictions of the policy, and ultimately let the enterprise is in a dilemma, it is difficult to make a step.

How to better transformation and upgrading, become the imminent need for coating enterprises to solve the problem as soon as possible, although the difficulties still exist, but the prospects for the development of waterborne coatings is looking forward to.

From today's global coatings industry development trend can be seen, China has become the world's coatings production and consumption of large countries, but in promoting the popularization of environmentally friendly coatings is far behind the European and American countries. Relevant statistics show that Europe's environmental protection paint penetration rate has reached an average of 80% -90%, while China's Beijing, Shanghai and other first-tier cities of environmental protection paint penetration rate of less than 25%. It can be seen that the more environmentally friendly water-based coatings have a huge market potential can be tapped. With the development of China's coatings industry is becoming increasingly powerful, the water-based coatings market is bound to be driven by the overall upward trend of coatings and get a share of the pie. The current water-based coatings market, there is an urgent need for a number of research and development capabilities, capital and technical support of the industry elite to lead the water-based coatings towards the healthy development of the road ahead.