A detailed explanation of the market size of green coatings and its three major categories of products

What is a green coating?

    Environmental protection coating It refers to the coating products whose performance indicators and safety indicators meet the respective product standards and meet the technical requirements of national environmental labeling products.

    The so-called green environmental protection coating refers to the human body and the living environment with non-toxic, harmless, heat insulation, flame retardant, anti-ultraviolet, anti-radiation, insect-proof, anti-poison and other special functions, its hardness, finish, moisture-proof, breathable, frost-resistant, rub-resistant, moisture-resistant, corrosion-resistant and strong adhesion and other properties are very obvious, and its service life is more than five years longer than traditional coatings. It is especially harmless to human health, and is especially suitable for a high-performance coating for the exterior walls of buildings that are picky about climate, moderation and sunshine. Green paint is not absolutely free of harmful substances, but to minimize the harm to human health, just to say that it is low pollution rather than no pollution. The harmful substances in the coating basically come from additives, generally speaking, the raw materials of the coating are not toxic, but the product must add some volatile agents, solvents, etc. These additives contain volatile harmful substances. Eco-friendly coatings can also reduce exhaust emissions and radioactive pollution, reduce energy consumption, and improve the reuse rate of resources.

    Harmful organic volatiles and heavy metal salts and other components must not be added to green paints, and must be odorless, non-toxic and pollution-free through professional demonstration. When the construction is painted, it is simple, time-saving, trouble-free, the plane is smooth and smooth, and the decorative effect is beautiful and generous. Green coatings are in short supply in China's market and have been vigorously promoted.

    People's awareness of environmental protection is increasing, and the quality of paint products is getting higher and higher, therefore, unenvironmentally friendly, unsafe coating products will be spurned by consumers, and the coatings that meet the needs of people will be green, environmentally friendly, and can replace the traditional solvent-based coatings with serious pollution, which is conducive to enhancing people's health and improving people's living environment. It is also important for the home environment to be safe, environmentally friendly and promote the sustainable development of society.

Market Overview

According to data from market research institutions, the global green paint market will reach 546.109 billion yuan (RMB) in 2022, and the global green paint market is expected to reach 809.934 billion yuan by 2028, with a compound annual growth rate of 6.74% during the forecast period.

According to the research of internationally renowned institutions, in the past two decades, environmentally friendly coatings have achieved a very stable growth rate in Asian countries. As a major coatings country in the Asia-Pacific region, the Indian paints and coatings market has great potential, with turnover likely to increase from $8 billion to $12 billion per annum in the coming years, with India's eco-friendly coatings market being one of the fastest-growing segments of the entire paints and coatings industry. In China, the market size of environmentally friendly coatings has reached 26.663 billion yuan in 2019, a year-on-year increase of 20.3%. It is estimated that by 2025, the market size will reach 37.943 billion yuan, with a compound annual growth rate of 5.3%. Among them, architectural coatings and automotive coatings are the two main areas of the market, and architectural coatings have the largest demand for environmental protection, accounting for about 40% of the total market.

In recent years, the competition in China's environmental protection coating industry has been fierce, mainly by international brands to occupy the vast majority of the market share, but local companies are also trying to challenge. Although the entry threshold of the environmental protection coating industry is not high, small enterprises can also enter the market competition, but due to the small scale and limited technical level, it is difficult to break through the monopoly position of foreign brands at this stage.

Categories and properties of green paints

Experts at home and abroad mainly focus on the following aspects in the research and development of green products: water-based coatings, powder coatings, high-solid powder coatings, and have achieved good results.

Powder coating

Powder coating is 100% solid powder coating, which is a coating in powder form. The biggest difference between it and general solvent-based and water-based coatings is that they use different raw material components, which are absolutely combined with green and environmentally friendly water as dispersion medium or solvent. During the coating process, the part of the paint that spills out is not wasted, it can be recycled and reused, and there is no solvent volatilization, so production and construction are safe. It is easy to realize automatic paint canning, and the efficient productivity has been further improved, which is in line with the internationally popular "four E" principles of environmental protection, economy, high efficiency and excellent performance, and the varieties of such coatings have developed rapidly. 

Thermoplastic and thermoset belong to the two types of powder coatings. The first is thermoplastic powder coatings, which are more expensive because they contain thermoplastic resins with high molecular weight as film-forming substances, most of which are used for functional coatings, which are chemically resistant and tough. The second is thermosetting powder coatings, and the synthesis of thermosetting resins and curing agents is the main component of film-forming substances. Because the molecular weight of thermosetting resin and curing agent is lower than that of thermoplastic resin, the fluidity of low molecular weight is relatively stable when curing, the wettability of its surface is also relatively good, the adhesion to the substrate is very strong, and the appearance of the coating film is also relatively beautiful. We usually see powder coatings such as epoxy, polyester, polyurethane, etc., which are thermosetting resins. At present, in the chemical industry, the production and application of thermosetting powder coatings are large-scale and the market share is relatively high.

Water-based paints

Water-based coatings with water as thinners are non-toxic and non-irritating, water-based coatings will not be easy to turn yellow, and green environmental protection coatings are harmless to human health and do not pollute the environment. In addition, water-based paints are non-flammable, unlike oil-based paints, which need to be stored separately, and it is convenient to store. At present, there are three main categories of water-based coatings on the market:

First, water-soluble paints, also known as "water-based paints". The main components of this type of water-based paint include water-soluble resins and other resin-based raw materials. It is super soluble, and the resin material forms a strong coating to protect the wall immediately after being applied to the surface. The water-based paint that has come out has strong environmental performance, so it can be called the "third paint revolution" by the chemical industry.

Second, water-dilution coatings. It mainly adds emulsion emulsion to the paint to dissolve the resin, and directly adds water to dilute the paint and then paint the wall during construction to achieve satisfactory results. According to the analysis of the current situation of the change process of the global coating industry, it can be seen that the mandatory use of water-based paint in Europe and the United States has entered the agenda, and China's pace towards water-based paint will also be fully developed, and the development direction of paint in the future will be water-based paint to occupy a dominant position.

Third, it is the latex paint used by most families at present, also called "water-dispersible paint". The main principle is to form emulsions mainly from synthetic resins.

High solids coatings

Solvent-based coatings commonly referred to as VOCs in the chemical market actually refer to solvent-based coatings with high solids content. Compared with the volume of traditional solvent-based thermosetting coatings, the solid content is usually about 75%~85% higher, and it is even higher than that of thermoplastic coatings.

So far, many countries in the world have not made a unified definition of high-solids coatings, which in China refers to their solids content greater than or equal to 75%. Internationally, the base color paint of automobile topcoat or flash metallic paint refers to the high solids of high-solids coatings must be about 45NVV, and for high-pigment primers, the high solids of its primer must reach more than 50NVV. How can such a requirement be met? First of all, it is required to reduce the molecular weight of the synthetic resin of the coating and the average functionality of each molecule; Second, the molecular weight distribution must be narrowed. In this case, there are some difficulties in maintaining the function of the coating film at the same time.

In addition, this kind of coating also reduces a certain amount of organic solvents, to a large extent, saves the solvent in the production and use of the coating, reduces pollution, but does not reduce the construction and film-forming performance of the coating. The first generation of high-solids coatings failed to meet the requirements of high solids in terms of hardness and color retention, while the latest generation of high-solids coatings developed with low solvent content and high quality standards have been widely used in many industries to escort green environmental protection.

With the increasing awareness of environmental protection and the continuous promotion of environmental protection policies, the prospects of the environmentally friendly coating market will become more and more broad. While it is growing rapidly, this field is also facing unknown challenges. Enterprises need to continuously improve their technical level and enhance their comprehensive strength in order to be invincible in the ever-changing market environment and better cope with future challenges and opportunities.