CPCA Continues its Partnership with Tree Canada to Help Restore Canada’s Ecosystems
CPCA Continues its Partnership with Tree Canada to Help Restore Canada’s Ecosystems
To further efforts on sustainability, CPCA partnered with Tree Canada to help restore damaged Canadian ecosystems and forests. Trees are a natural solution to fighting climate change. They capture CO2 through growing wood and biomass storage in the ground and tree stems. Tree Canada is the only national non-profit organization dedicated to planting and nurturing trees in rural and urban environments and to date has planted more than 83 million trees on Canadian soil.
The Canadian paint and coatings industry continues to advance its sustainability initiatives, ensuring that products, systems, and processes are meeting the needs of the present without compromising those of the future. There is a growing understanding among government, NGOs, and the public that paint and coatings are by their very nature sustainable products that protect and extend the life of many important assets and types of infrastructure, thereby reducing their environmental footprint. The coatings industry’s reach goes beyond the products themselves; nearly every other manufacturing industry involves coatings in some way. Sectors that rely on coatings include health care, food, hygiene, pharmaceuticals, defense, agriculture, energy, and many others.
CPCA Members Have a Strong Record of Emissions Reduction
Over the past ten years VOC emissions in architectural paint and coatings have been reduced by an additional 20 per cent for a total of 94 per cent reduction, representing 41,000 tonnes of air emissions reduction! This is equivalent to taking approximately 300,000 average sized automobiles off the roads annually. It has been a major advancement in the sustainability of paint products in Canada.
CPCA is proud to have planted over 1,250 trees to date and we anticipate planting 2,500 over the course of our partnership. A mature tree can absorb as much as 22 kg per tonne of carbon dioxide a year. It is estimated that over an 80-year lifespan a tree can sequester 200kg of carbon dioxide, contributing to the oxygen we breathe.
Coatings Industry Mobilizes on a Global Level
Many coatings companies are considered global leaders in sustainability and release detailed, informative annual sustainability reports to measure their progress. Across the industry, there is a growing push to standardize reporting benchmarks so that progress can be measured for the industry as a whole. Many CPCA members are increasingly challenging themselves to achieve multiple sustainability objectives and align with the targets outlined in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). All UN member states adopted these SDGs, which includes Canada, to guide global action on the urgent environmental, political, and economic challenges facing our planet.
The World Coatings Council, of which CPCA is a founding member, is currently developing a template for a global sustainability report based on relevant KPIs and UN SDGs. Member organizations of the WCC have prioritized 26 material issues across five broad topics including Business Model & Innovation, Environment, Human Capital, Leadership & Governance, and Social Capital.
Some environmental benefits of coatings: https://canpaint.com/leaders-in-product-stewardship/environmental-benefits-of-coatings/
Join our Partnership with Tree Canada
By contributing to Tree Canada’s National Greening Program, CPCA is taking responsibility for supporting our ecosystems. We invite all members and non-members in the Canadian coatings industry to join us in supporting Canadian ecosystems and fight climate change by restoring forest cover in partnership with Tree Canada. Our partnership offers members the opportunity to engage with Tree Canada and support their National Greening Program with tree planting projects across Canada or their Grow Clean Air program.
CPCA: Protecting Your Interests Since 1913
About CPCA
Since 1913, the Canadian Paint and Coatings Association (CPCA) has represented Canada’s major paint and coatings manufacturers, and their industry suppliers and distributors in three primary product categories: architectural paints, industrial products and automotive coatings. In Canada, CPCA members have more than 261 paint manufacturing establishments, own more than 3,000 retail outlets, supply products to another 5,000 retail stores and more than 7,500 auto body shops. This represents annual retail sales of more than $12.3 billion, employing directly and indirectly 86,300 employees.
For more information contact:
Melanie DiTullio, Director, Graphic Design & Digital Communications
Canadian Paint and Coatings Association
Peter Mirtchev, Director, Public Affairs
Canadian Paint and Coatings Association