Van Wijhe Verf the Dutch producer of Ralston Paint & Coatings, which is exclusively available in Ireland through Pat McDonnell Paints stores, has been awarded the prestigious title “Best for The World” for the third year in a row by “B Lab”, for its high environmental standards and commitment to sustainability.
CEO Marlies van Wijhe said of this achievement “the vision of our company is that urgent environmental and climate problems demand us to do our work in a sustainable way. We never considered sustainability as a trend. Being sustainable is a necessity and asks for continuous innovation: for the world and for continuity of our company for future generations.”
“It’s like they put 100 years of heritage into each paint tin!” explains Aidan McDonnell, Director, Pat McDonnell Paints. “The technical innovation is very exciting and the sustainability benefits are dramatically successful for the Irish environmentally-conscious consumer. And because Ralston manufactures its own colourant it’s able to provide outstanding colour choice and extraordinary colour accuracy. "Customers, said McDonnell, will be able to explore a whole new world of colour and create the perfect setting for themselves and their family with this range.”
The Ralston production process aims to reduce the volumes of hazardous waste by 10 % per year. They have adopted a product strategy that is based on the use of bio-based raw materials and superior performance of their products in respect to durability.
But sustainable paint is not only about bio-based raw materials. Van Wijhe Verf’s developments are also focused on reduction of emissions of their products and production processes. Over recent years they have created a database with all the CO2-footprint information of their products. They now know exactly which raw materials and which parts of their production process influence CO2 emissions and to what extent. They use this knowledge in order to evaluate and plan improvements regarding the carbon footprint of their products. In improving their production processes, they always consider the environmental consequences: Ralston Paints use LED-lighting, promote the use of electrical cars, use a geothermal heating system to heat their newest offices and separate waste streams in to 25 dedicated waste streams. Since the beginning of 2018 90 % of their volume of wall paint has been packed in buckets, made of fully recycled plastic from consumer waste.
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