As sustainability becomes increasingly important within the industry and to the next generation of talent, 3M and BASF Coatings saw an opportunity to drive efficiencies in the refinishing process to enable more sustainable repairs. Enhancing the sustainability of refinishing processes can help shops reduce material waste and emissions while also advancing foundational objectives that shops have always valued: more productive processes that deliver better quality in a more profitable way.

3M and BASF Coatings recognized that for the industry to widely embrace more sustainable repairs, a clearly defined vision of what sustainability means for shops and how it can be easily harnessed is essential. This shared commitment to provide training solutions for the collision repair industry, coupled with 3M and BASF Coatings’ innovative products that support body shop sustainability goals, enables both global companies to join forces and produce SOPs that enhance sustainability in the shop. The co-created SOPs aim to reduce unnecessary material waste, overspray, rework, non-productivity time and volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions.

“Leadership in sustainability isn’t an option, it’s an expectation,” said Dave Gunderson, president, 3M Automotive Aftermarket Division. “Oftentimes, shops may equate becoming more sustainable with expensive new products or complicated new processes. Starting with these new SOPs, 3M and BASF Coatings are taking steps to help define how to meaningfully advance sustainability in the repair process. We’re proud to be collaborating with BASF Coatings, and we hope these SOPs show shops that the path toward greater sustainability can be simple, cost-effective, and beneficial in expanding technician skillsets.”

“By collaborating with one of the world’s leading innovators in 3M, we improve our customers’ environmental footprint beyond our BASF sustainable paint portfolio by providing shops with standard operating procedures focused on reducing waste, emissions, and improving efficiencies,” said Rahel Reichmann, head of sustainability for Refinish Coatings at BASF. “We have confirmed with a significant number of body shops around the world that a sustainable body shop definition and certification is needed to move the industry forward.”