Sustainable development on the agenda for paint industry gathering

The United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals were on the agenda this morning at Covestro’s inaugural Paint industry sustainability breakfast in Mulgrave Victoria. Hosted by Rebecca Lee, Managing Director of Covestro Australia, the breakfast seminar was attended by leading executives from Australia’s paint industry, as well as local and international sustainability experts.

Guest speakers included Dr Barbara Nebal, CEO of Thinkstep Australia; Karen Gomez, CEO of Paintback, Rebecca Lucore, Head of Sustainability and CSR, Covestro USA, and Rebecca Lee, Managing Director, Covestro Australia.

According to Karen Gomez from Paintback, Australia’s leading paint recycling and disposal initiative, “Australians throw away a whopping 15 million kilograms of unused paint and containers every year. Having the backing of the local paint industry including suppliers like Covestro helps us to responsibly collect the paint and ensure that it doesn’t enter land fill or find its way into vital water ways”.

As a manufacturer of plastics and polymers, which are used in paint production, Covestro has a sound history of spearheading sustainable development initiatives around the globe. The company was an early adaptor of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals when they were released in 2015, and it continues to support meaningful change in local communities around the world.

For Rebecca Lee, Managing Director of Covestro Australia, today’s meeting of paint industry specialists was an ideal opportunity to revisit the important topic of sustainability in paint production, use and disposal;

“As a company that contributes to the paint production process, we are serious about finding sustainable solutions to paint product lifecycles. This extends from our early production processes, all the way through to working with end-of-life product stewardship and recycling initiatives. Supporting initiatives like Paintback is an important way for us to close the loop on sustainability and be a serious contributor to the circular economy.