Companies that specify prepainted metal for manufacture of their products are providing many environmental benefits that appeal to today’s consumer.

One of the biggest environmental benefits of prepainted metal is its contribution toward the reduction of landfill deposits. Tests have shown that prepainted metal products can have a longer service life, and often are up to 100 percent recyclable at the end of their service life. That means recycled prepainted metal is transformed into a new product instead of contributing to the volumes in already overburdened landfills.

Another green benefit inherent in prepainting is the process itself. By centralizing paint operations from many locations to high-tech coil coating lines, a host of green benefits are realized. The coil coating industry has pioneered controlled processes that focus on reducing VOC emissions, lowering energy use with efficient curing processes, and maximizing resources usage.

For companies who ship products overseas, prepainted metal helps take the hassles out of compliance regulations like the European Union’s RoHS directive. Prepainted metal allows for products to be more easily designed, engineered and brought to market while adhering to increasingly strict environmental standards.

In many cases, prepainted metal coatings can produce even more green benefits. For example, “Cool Metal Roofing” systems can be specified with coatings specifically designed to reflect heat, helping to reduce energy needs and mitigate environmental problems like Urban Heat Islands and smog. In addition, products manufactured from prepainted metal do not emit harmful substances into the air, an important benefit for indoor consumer goods.

With green benefits in every coil, prepainted metal is environmentally easy on manufacturers, consumers, and our planet.

For more information about converting your manufacturing process to prepaint, contact the National Coil Coating Association at ncca@coilcoating.org or 216-241-7333.