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China MEP Issues New Standard on Water Based Coatings

On March 31st 2014, Ministry of Environmental Protection of People’s Republic of China (MEP) approved standard HJ 2537-2014, “Technical Requirement for Environmental Labeling Products: Water Based Coatings”. This new standard is a replacement of the former standard HJ/T201-2005 and will be effective from July 1st 2014.

Standard HJ 2537-2014 aims to reduce the harmful impact the use and production of coatings has on the environment and human beings. The standard stipulates the quantity limits of hazardous substances in both architectural coatings and industrial coatings that intend to apply for environmental labels. An environmental label is an official certification proving the quality and environment-friendliness of the product. It is issued by China United Environmental Certification Center under the Ministry of Environmental Protection.

Compared with the former standard, the latest one adjusts the scope of application of the standard, lowered the overall maximum quantity limit on benzene, methylbenzene, xylene and ethylbenzene, added the quantity limit on glycol ether and its esters, and lowered the maximum quantity limit on volatile organic compounds (VOC). The new standard also introduced an annex of substances that are forbidden to be artificially added into products, including:

  • Alkylphenol ethoxylates (APEO)

  • Di-iso-nonylphthalate (DINP)

  • Di-n-octylphthalate (DNOP)

  • Di-(2-ethylhexy)-phthalate (DEHP)

  • Di-isodecylphthalate (DIDP)

  • Butylbenzylphthalate (BBP)

  • Dibutylphthalate (DBP)

Following the recently approved “consumption tax on coatings”, standard HJ 2537-2014 is another step MEP is taking to encourage the development of environmentally friendly coatings and paint. China’s annual production of coatings and paint reaches about 13 million tons. In China only less than 50% of coatings and paint is environment-friendly, compared with 70%-80% in developed countries. From Jan 1st 2004, European Union banned the manufacture and sale of solvent based coatings. From 2004, furniture coated with Chinese paintings has also been banned in United States market. In recent years, MEP has been promoting water based coatings which generate only 30%-40% VOC emission compared with traditional solvent based coatings. It is widely believed that the effects of the new regulations will be felt throughout all relevant industries as enterprise scramble to adjust their production methods and product lines accordingly.

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