Axalta Coating Systems, one of the leading global suppliers of liquid and powder coatings, issued its first sustainability report which was prepared in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative’s G4 Guidelines. The 72 page Axalta Coating Systems Sustainability Report 2013 highlights the company’s commitment to sustainability by providing performance data and featuring stories, photographs and graphics that illustrate the company’s track record.

The report showcased Axalta’s customers, products and services and describes the special role that Axalta coatings contribute to sustainability by helping the materials they coat last longer and operate more efficiently. It also examines the company’s operating and financial performance, environment, health and safety programs, product stewardship initiatives, innovative R&D capability and its commitment to the community.

“This is our first sustainability report and it tells the story of our transformation into an independent company built on more than 145 years of experience in the coatings industry,” explained Axalta Chairman and CEO Charlie Shaver. “As a leading global coatings company, sustainability has always been a part of our culture and our report describes our commitment to dynamic, sustainable growth. We’ve set a high bar to protect the environment where we do business. Just as importantly, we work to provide each of our customers with innovative coatings that protect their products and improve their performance.”

Axalta’s contributions are easy to identify throughout the report and include:

    3-Wet (Wet-on-Wet) and Eco-Concept consolidated systems, which reduce customer energy use and investment costs while increasing productivity
    Next generation functional coatings for deep and sub-sea oil and gas pipelines that achieve record temperature tolerances up to 311 degrees
    A $50 million commitment to expand waterborne manufacturing capacity in China
    Cycle-time reduction of approximately 30 percent over five-years per batch of paint in our operations
    Solar power generation that produces more than 7,500 kilowatt hours of energy annually at Axalta’s Mexico operations center
    A 15 percent decrease in emissions of VOCs and HAPs across Axalta operations
    In preparing the report, the company identified over 100 material issues which were distilled into the eleven categories addressed in the report. As part of the company’s transparent reporting process, the report also identifies gaps in data or policies and procedures that the company will strive to close in the coming years. This process will be spearheaded by a new Sustainability Committee.