Industrial residue is being used by AkzoNobel in Brazil as a more sustainable raw material for making paint. Nearly a third of the total residue generated during industrial effluent treatment at the Mauá plant in São Paulo goes into the manufacture of Coral Pinta Piso floor paint. As well as helping to eliminate landfill disposal, it’s also contributing to the preservation of natural resources. “This is a fantastic initiative which will play an important role in helping us achieve our ambition of 100% circular use of materials in our own operations by 2030,” says Wijnand Bruinsma, AkzoNobel’s Director of Sustainability.
“In 2024 alone, the initiative contributed to the reduction of around 272 tons of CO2 emissions – equivalent to the amount produced by nearly 400 cars over the course of a year*.”
At AkzoNobel's Mauá facility in São Paulo, the on-site wastewater treatment plant enables industrial residue to be reused as a more sustainable raw material for making paint. Currently, around 30% of the total treated residue in Mauá is used to formulate the Coral Pinta Piso line of paint.
Following the quality control process, any residue not suitable for use in the product is transformed into briquettes for energy recovery. Although legislation allows the site’s liquid effluent to be treated and disposed of in a watercourse, AkzoNobel has invested in the treatment plant in recent years, which allows 100% of the treated water to be reused in processes and products.
The Mauá site uniquely sits within a large area of Brazilian rainforest known as the Tangará Reserve. Since 2007, the company has been restoring 70 hectares of the reserve to native woodland in an effort to safeguard the fragile ecosystem.