ACA Sustainability Report 2022 - Report - Page 59
Improving the Community and the Climate
MEMBER STORY
Water Conservation in a Water-based Industry
From the beginning of Dunn-Edwards,
being green has been at the core of
our business practices. Our concern
for the environment has always been
expressed in simple terms such as
“make the most of what you have,”
and “avoid letting anything go to
waste.” This business model not only
extended to ingredients and product
performance, but also how products
were manufactured and an awareness
of water usage and potential for water
reusage. At Dunn-Edwards, we’ve
taken water conservation seriously
by reusing production rinse water
wherever possible – an act which
allows us to reuse over 180,000
gallons of water a year.
Paints and coatings are, by nature,
environmentally beneficial for
the protection they provide to our
built environment, and waterborne
coatings offer substantial benefits
over solvent-borne coatings in
areas of air quality, and health and
safety. However, with the transition
to waterborne coatings, the water
demand required by the industry has
been no small figure. The ability to
reuse water has become increasingly
important and offers the industry an
opportunity to conserve and optimize
the resource.
Paint production at Dunn-Edwards’s
manufacturing facility can be done
at a scale of 500 gallons to 12,000
gallons for a wide variety of flat and
non-flat coatings – with capabilities
for over a dozen product formulas
being manufactured in a single
day. Cleaning of all batch-making
equipment is incredibly important
to ensure the appearance and
performance of our final products
meets quality standards. In our efforts
to conserve water, our facility is
capable of segregating cleaning water
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by product sheens, and this water
can be reused in products specifically
designed for their integration. By
reusing cleaning water while ensuring
quality production output, DunnEdwards has saved over 900,000
gallons of water in the last five years
– a number that will only continue to
increase as the years go on.
Water conservation is just one of
the ways that Dunn-Edwards is
committed to being eco-efficient.
For more information about our
Greener by Design business model
and philosophy, and our Phoenix
Manufacturing facility, visit
www.dunnedwards.com.