Hesse Lignal has reached a milestone in its sustainability strategy. The Hamm surface coating specialist has removed all nitrocellulose lacquers and solvent-based acid-curing lacquers from its range as of 1st January 2024. Customers will instead be able to use sustainable alternative products from Hesse Lignal.
“Our transformation process is moving forward as planned,” says Jens Hesse, Managing Director of Hesse Lignal. “By getting out of the nitro lacquer market, we have now achieved an important interim target in our sustainability strategy.”
Over the past few months, the Hamm family business has switched relevant customers over to more sustainable products, enabling it to stop production and distribution of non-sustainable nitrocellulose lacquers and solvent-based acid-curing lacquers as of 1st January 2024.
It will similarly stop offering some solvent-based additives, colourants, pigment concentrates and their associated thinners.
A world worth living in for future generations
“In Spring 2022 we decided to develop a sustainability strategy to fulfil our responsibility as a future-orientated family business with a history across the generations,” explains Jens. Together with Hans J. Hesse, they represent the third and fourth generation to lead the company. “For our children and grandchildren, we want to contribute to creating a world worth living in by minimising environmental harm and impact on the climate.”
This is why the Hesse Board has decided to replace all solvent-based products with sustainable alternatives by 2030. To achieve this, they are pursuing two objectives: On the one hand, the use of volatile organic compounds (VOC) is to be reduced, as these can contribute to the formation of ozone in the lower atmosphere and the development of CO2 which is harmful to the climate. On the other, products that contain fossil raw materials are to be replaced by alternatives made from sustainable raw materials.
Replacing discontinued products with tested alternatives
“Our colleagues in the departments for Research and Development, Product Management and Sales/Distribution have invested a lot of energy and know-how into developing and testing sustainable alternative products,” reveals Jens. “The more sustainable alternatives available today are water-based products, lacquers made from sustainable raw materials, UV lacquers and natural oils.
The Hesse team is actively supporting the transformation process and, amongst other things, is assisting customers in choosing suitable alternative products.
“Restructuring the first part of our range was a big step for us, but we are still far from reaching our ultimate aim,” concludes Jens. “We will continue to work consistently and actively on the development of sustainable products, so that all products with a high VOC content and lacquers made from fossil-based raw materials can be replaced with more climate-friendly alternatives by 2030.”
Businesses working with lacquers can obtain further information on changes to the range and a summary of the alternative products available online at www.hesse-lignal.com/products/range changes.
