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No smell. No smell at all. Inside the small laboratory of Peintures Robin Group, CEO Gérard Zoller holds out a pot of Verdello paint for the smelling test. The company presents their new paint as the first “100% biosourced” paint on the market. It was introduced a year ago after three years of development at the Useldange plant on the shores of the Attert river in the North-West of Luxembourg. The binder chosen for Verdello paint is tall oil, a by-product of the wood pulp fabrication process of the paper industry. “Binder is always the main ingredient in paint”, as Gérard Zoller explains, “we found one that was ideal for our target”.
No compromise
Tall oil is in fact a waste product obtained during the production of other goods made from renewables. Traditional acrylic paint contain resins, pigment, solvents and additives produced by the petrochemical industry. Verdello contains none of those. Moreover, every component of the paint is made in Europe, so transportation distances are greatly reduced and so is the carbon footprint of Verdello in comparison with other paints. There may be others that are sold as “biosourced”, but not until now has a paint hit the market that is nearly 100% biosourced. Tall oil for Verdello is imported from France, while pigment is sourced from France, Germany and Finland.
A reduced carbon footprint
“With Verdello, we are reducing our dependency on the petrochemical industry and on the Asian component producers that dominate the market today”, points out Gérard Zoller. According to Zoller, “no compromise” has been made on using biosourced ingredients for this innovative paint that leaves no traces in air, water or soil. The Luxembourgish National Health Laboratory has certified that Verdello is no threat at all for health or the environment.
Groupe Robin went as far as using only products from renewable sources for its Verdello marketing campaign.
No compromise has been made on Verdello’s technical quality either; Verdello compares favourably to its competitors when it comes to covering power.
There is, however, one compromise: the choice of biosourced mineral pigments limits the number of available color shades. 33 different color varieties are available right now in Luxembourg, France, Belgium and Germany. Verdello’s success with private and professional users is growing.
Environment Award
“The demand for “green” products has been around for a long time and is growing”, says Gérard Zoller, “and we’ve always tried to think about how we could meet this demand”.
The small company founded in 1927, which produces paints for interior and exterior, anti-corrosion products, lacquers for the automotive and wood industry and fulfills special orders for larger paint companies, received an “Environment Award” from the Luxembourgish Industry Federation (FEDIL or “Fédération des Industriels Luxembourgeois”) back in 2002 for its Robinhyd water solvent paint series.
In 2013, the company, which has a headcount of about 100 today, including five chemists, was awarded the prize again, this time for Verdello. Gérard Zoller describes this new paint as “a second pillar” for the company, for which innovation really is a must. “As a small company, we have no choice but to develop niche products”, explains the CEO.
The green and the functional niche
Robin continues to work on this ‘green niche’, but there is also a niche market for functional paints, i.e. paints with very special qualities. They include Titanoxide paints able to catalyze CO² from the air, paints that have electricity conducting qualities, or paints that are able to repel some substances or able to “heal” themselves thanks to nanotechnology.
These such specialized paints can greatly reduce maintenance and thus energy and financial costs. They enable a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions and the consumption of fuels from non-indefinite fossil sources. The challenge is to bring both niches together to produce fully ecological paints. Robin seems to be getting closer.
For more information: www.robin.lu
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