COLOUR | PIGMENTS
Value chain The US-based Color Pigments Manufacturers Association (CPMA) announced the launch of a Sustainability and Innovation Committee this May. The initiative will work with the colour pigments value chain to promote sustainability principles and solutions in North America. Thomas Farrell, VP Sustainability at Penn Color, was named commit- tee chair, and Nikola Juhasz, Global Technical Director, Sustainability at Sun Chemical, was named vice chair. “In the context of a rapidly evolving legislative
Above:
Americhem’s 2024 Color Trends Palette is based on the company’s report:
Immersed in the Worlds of Color
One example is food contact materials; regula- tory amendments under discussion may include high purity requirements for substances used in plastic materials and articles that could make compliance challenging. “In case of contaminants being unknown or where genotoxicity has not been ruled out by toxicological assessments, the presence in food after a potential migration from the plastic material or article shall not exceed 0.15 ppb. This very low limit value is difficult to confirm for a participant some steps upwards in the supply chain,” said Thüsing. In addition, ruling out geno- toxicity could be difficult. Another aspect of the EU’s food contact materi-
als framework regulation revision is a specific risk assessment that would be required for nanomateri- als. “There is a concern that they may have addi- tional toxicity due to the small particle size, leading to precautionary regulations,” said Thüsing. “In our eyes, this concern is unsubstantiated for most of the so-called nanomaterials on the market that are pigments and fillers. For these substances, no nano-specific toxicity is proven. In plastics, studies and theoretical considerations have shown that particle migration can be excluded for particles with a size of more than 3 nm.” New regulations, such as the European framework
Regulation on Ecodesign Requirements for Sustain- able Products (EU) 2024/1781, discuss substances of concern to be avoided, which may introduce confusion and unnecessary double regulation, as these are covered by the REACH regulation, said Thüsing. “Another new criterion for a substance of concern under the sustainable products regulation is a negative effect on the reuse and recycling of materials in the product in which it is present. As this is highly dependent on the recycling process being considered, this is to be defined for each product group in the 30 implementing acts which are to be prepared in the coming years. A lot of work is ahead,” she concluded.
18 COMPOUNDING WORLD | September 2024
and regulatory landscape, it is important to understand the pressures and requirements that will affect the various colour markets, to educate the value chain about the challenges and opportu- nities that we face as an industry, and to tackle these step by step,” said Juhasz. One of the committee’s first steps will be bringing together members across the value chain – from raw materials suppliers to converters and brand owners – to identify common goals and clarify requirements. “In the area of sustainability, we’re all in this together,” said Farrell. “We want to provide the knowledge and data for brandowners to build sustainability into their designs.” Develop- ing LCAs for different pigment chemistries is one topic to be considered. Penn Color is in the process of calculating its global emissions (Scope 1, 2 and 3). “We are looking at many ways we can reduce our emissions, through efforts such as reduced water consump- tion and recycling, among others,” said Farrel. He indicated again the interconnected nature of the value chain, as for example, a masterbatch sup- plier’s Scope 1,2 and 3 emissions affect their customers Scope 3 emissions.
Trends and needs In addition to regulatory pressures, colorants for consumer-facing applications are affected by design trends. Americhem publishes a colour trends analysis that can be applied to any market or application, and the colours can be formulated in base resins to meet customers’ needs, said Tyler Malush, Marketing Specialist at Americhem. In 2024, trends include a preference for neutral colours and matte effects in areas such as consum- er and automotive. The latest from Americhem is a product line based on trends in healthcare – Color- Rx MB includes 15 colours in masterbatch form for healthcare applications. Lauren Lutikoff, Americhem’s Global Sustainabil-
ity Leader, has seen growing demand for ecofriend- ly compounds. She said that Americhem has
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IMAGE: AMERICHEM
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