Guest Blog by Tom Bowtell, Chief Executive, British Coatings Federation
In 2014, the British Coatings Federation (BCF) joined the Construction Products Association, and at the first meeting I attended I learned about the CPA’s work putting together Resource Efficiency Action Plans (REAPs) for construction products. This meeting made me start to think about the framework for a REAP to address a major challenge in the paint industry – each household has an average of six cans of leftover paint in their shed or garage, and each year 55 million litres are leftover. 50% of this enters the general waste stream via household waste, and only 2% is reused or remanufactured.
CPA’s own Jane Thornback was instrumental in helping BCF create a REAP for leftover decorative paint, which was published in March this year and has guided our PaintCare project for the past nine months. PaintCare aims to stop the landfilling of leftover paint and redirect the material to remanufacturing and reuse programmes creating a new circular model for leftover paint.
Now nearly two years after my first CPA meeting, we have reached a major milestone by launching PaintCare in Parliament. We were happy to welcome the CPA to the event who joined over 60 delegates including MPs, government officials, paint manufacturers, local authorities, retailers and third-sector organisations for the launch on November 18th.
The PaintCare recommendations and interim report was unveiled at the event, and the next 12 months of the project will focus on delivering on the 15 recommendations identified in the report, in continued collaboration with key stakeholders. Key challenges are finding a market for leftover paint, removing regulatory blocks and creating a national collection network.
We were delighted to welcome Rory Stewart OBE MP, Defra Minister with Responsibility for Waste who spoke at the event, commending the ambition of PaintCare, which will make better use of resources, reduce waste to landfill, save local authorities money and create new markets. PaintCare will impact the entire supply chain, with the potential to create jobs, stimulate a remanufacturing sector and facilitate a sustainable circular economy.
The full PaintCare recommendations and interim report are downloadable on the PaintCare website at www.paintcare.org.uk/actionplan.