Alberdingk Boley Celebrates 250^th Anniversary

Alberdingk Boley, with roots dating back to 1772, celebrates its 250^th anniversary. Headquartered in Krefeld, Germany, the Alberdingk group has become an international manufacturer of environmentally friendly water-based resins and oils with an ever-growing presence in the United States.

In 1970, Alberdingk started production of water-based acrylic dispersions that marked the beginning of the evolution from an oil mill to a manufacturer of emulsions. Fifteen years later, the privately owned company started to produce water-based polyurethane dispersions to broaden its application portfolio. In 1994, Alberdingk Boley launched the first PUD based on renewable resources using its captively produced feedstocks to ensure highest product quality and performance.

Throughout the years, Alberdingk Boley has expanded its portfolio platform within the waterborne technology and today offers a wide range of polymers that assist its customers with their formulation tasks. The company also synergies between its captive technologies while focusing on superior product performance. Recognizing the need to directly serve the U.S. customer base, Alberdingk Boley, Inc. was founded in 2000, and later opened its production and technical service center in Greensboro, North Carolina. The company has been expanding and upgrading its manufacturing capabilities at the Greensboro site ever since. Several recent major milestones were completed, including the addition of another reactor train in 2020, followed by phase II of the capacity expansion project that included significant debottlenecking investments throughout 2022.

“Especially in these unprecedented times with ongoing supply issues and economic uncertainty, it is important for us as a company to give a clear message to our customers that Alberdingk Boley is a reliable partner with full commitment to its core business: we are a dedicated manufacturer of high-end waterborne resins that continually invests in its U.S. site, as well as in product innovations and trusted relationships.” said Thomas Baur, CEO of Alberdingk Boley, Inc.

“It is exciting to be acting as a medium-sized player that still offers a broad technology range – this combination enables us to partner with our customers, serve their global needs, and yet keep the flexibility and entrepreneurial spirit that differentiated the company for 250 years.”

For more information, visit: www.alberdingkusa.com.

AkzoNobel Packaging Coatings Urges Industry to Convert to a Bisphenol-Free World

According to AkzoNobel, minimizing the risk of ‘regrettable substitutions’ in converting too quickly to a bisphenol-free world, and ensuring an aligned, right-first-time position that protects both consumers and manufacturers alike, are the largest challenges the can packaging industry has ever faced. With a limited quantity of experts based on steady state industry to support can-makers’ transition to a new world in a way that enhances consumer confidence and is economically viable, the industry needs to make sensible, pragmatic decisions to protect all stakeholders in the supply chain and avoid potentially damaging unintended consequences.

These are some of the key issues discussed in a new paper, Material Concerns – Limiting the Challenges and Consequences of Transitioning to Bisphenol-Free Cans, published by AkzoNobel Packaging Coatings in response to moves across Europe to potentially ban all bisphenols in future can packaging.

“We all believe that removing bisphenols is the right thing to do,” said Sebastian Pordomingo, Global Segment Director, AkzoNobel Packaging Coatings. “We believe there is an opportunity for the industry to shape change together in developing alternative solutions.” The paper explores the journey that European scientists have taken to arrive at their decision, and how alternative commercial solutions are already available to remove bisphenols from the supply chain altogether.

EMU's Coatings Research Institute Awarded U.S. Patent

The Eastern Michigan University faculty-student research team at Coatings Research Institute in the GameAbove College of Engineering and Technology has been awarded a U.S. patent for the invention of “organic-inorganic hybrid polymeric compositions, related articles, and methods.” This is their third patent for organic-inorganic hybrid materials.

According to Vijay Mannari, director of Coatings Research Institute at EMU, the invention of the composition can potentially replace hazardous heavy metals used in the metal finishing industry. The concepts within the patent are also advancing the development of 3D-printing materials, and solving the challenges of conventional materials and processes.

“This invention demonstrates our contribution to advancement in material science and engineering,” said Mannari. “It’s extraordinary because the two co-inventors were students at the time of its invention. This innovation is an amazing example of what students can do when appropriately mentored, encouraged, empowered, and enabled.”

“I am looking forward to possibilities of licensing our patent by industries for commercial applications that will enhance the environmental sustainability of their products,” Mannari said. Since the publication of that patent, Mannari has received inquiries from a few industries for customizing organic-inorganic hybrid coatings for specific end-use applications.

Spotlight on 2023 Coatings Color Trends

A New Array – BASF’s 2022-2023 Automotive Color Trends Collection

Each year, designers for BASF’s Coatings division create a new collection to inspire automotive designers around the globe. The 2022-2023 collection is called New Array, providing innovative shades with an increasing focus on sustainability and functionality, while still moving into new and exciting color spaces. According to BASF, the collection refers to the thoughtful process of ordering values and responding to new needs. The company describes it as, “like being on an escalator. It’s a mode of transportation that does not belong to the previous nor the next level, taking the rider to a liminal space in-between. This collection immerses itself in that space to look forward at the future of mobility.”

Dunn-Edwards Announces Terra Rose as Its 2023 Color of the Year

Dunn-Edwards Corporation has announced its 2023 Color of the Year as Terra Rosa, a scorched-earth, approachable hue with rosy pink tones and a touch of terra-cotta. Its grounding, quiet comfort encourages a life filled with joy. Drawing inspiration from modern fashion, lifestyle, and culture, Terra Rosa was selected as a refreshing neutral update to browns and burgundies that projects strength and vitality. A medium chroma, the cinnamon rose hue is positive and joyful, reflecting confidence, creativity, and coziness.

Miller Paint Names Unity Its 2023 Color of the Year

Miller Paint has announced Unity as its 2023 Color of the Year. Unity is an earthy terra-cotta hue that represents the warmth of coming together in community. “People are once again gathering with loved ones to enjoy special moments,” said Puji Sherer, Miller Paint’s vice president of marketing, Color & Brand. “As our 2023 Color of the Year, Unity encourages us to pause and to protect what is precious to us – our humanity, our planet, our traditions, and our homes.” As a gentle neutral complement to greens and blues, Unity offers hints of peach, pink, and brown that can be used as a backdrop for outside greenery, or as the perfect complement to natural materials inside the home.

AkzoNobel Names Wild Wonder the Interpon Color of the Year 2023

Color, performance, and protection for the wild at heart. AkzoNobel said that’s the inspiration behind Wild Wonder, the Interpon Color of the Year for 2023, a color imagined by an international team of color experts and inspired by the rhythms of nature around us. Wild Wonder is one of a palette of eight new colors influenced by nature: its shapes, structures, and colors. According to AkzoNobel, the unique colors in the palette are intended to help people reflect and reconsider their relationship with earth’s natural resources – with the warm, golden tones of the harvest, and the positivity and energy that flows from the happy promise of a new season, and a world sustained. Interpon powder coatings are designed to enable surfaces to retain their color integrity for longer.