LONDON - The British Coatings Federation (BCF) has launched a major campaign to ensure solvent-based basecoats in vehicle repairs are used in a compliant way. Although the VOC Paint Product Directive has been in place for over 10 years, there is widespread abuse of the directive, with an estimated 30% of basecoats sold in the UK for car repair still being solvent based.
The BCF has recently written to all vehicle refinish (VR) distributors outlining the details of the campaign, which includes a poster to help explain the difference between solvent- and water-based basecoats, and when they should be used. The letter also outlined a mystery shopping exercise where one in four VR distributors will be visited in the next 12 months to gather evidence of non-compliance in the sector.