Painting & Coating Industry (PCI) logo Powder coating summit logo
  • Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
  • NEWS
  • PRODUCTS
  • MATERIALS
  • TECHNOLOGIES
  • RESOURCES
  • EVENTS
  • DIRECTORIES
  • EMAGAZINE
  • CONTACT
  • SIGN UP!
cart
facebook twitter linkedin youtube
  • NEWS
  • Latest News
  • Market Trends & Reports
  • Price Alerts
  • Subscribe to eNewsletters
  • Global Top 10/ PCI 25
  • Weekly Featured Article
  • COATLE Word Game
  • PRODUCTS
  • Product News
  • Must See Products and Services
  • MATERIALS
  • Additives
  • Resins/Polymers
  • Pigments
  • Equipment
  • Distributors
  • TECHNOLOGIES
  • Adhesives
  • Architectural Coatings
  • FINISHING
  • Industrial Coatings
  • Nanotechnology
  • Powder Coatings
  • Solventborne
  • Special Purpose Coatings
  • Sustainability
  • UV Coatings
  • Waterborne
  • FINISHING
  • Finishing News
  • Finishing Technologies
  • Finishing Equipment
  • Finishing Today
  • RESOURCES
  • Columns
  • Blogs
  • Coatings Supplier Handbook
  • Podcasts and Videos
  • PCI Store
  • Classifieds
  • eBooks
  • Sponsor Insights
  • White Papers
  • COATLE Word Game
  • Columns
  • Ask Joe Powder
  • Did you know?
  • Distribution Dive
  • Focus on Canada
  • Formulating With Mike
  • Innovation Insights
  • Moody's Coatings Conundrums
  • Powder Coating Perspectives
  • Target the Market
  • TiO2 Insider
  • Blogs
  • Editor's Viewpoint
  • Industry Insights
  • Podcasts and Videos
  • COAT-IT! Podcast
  • Videos/PCI TV
  • EVENTS
  • Coatings Trends & Technologies Summit
  • Paint and Coatings Academy
  • Webinars
  • Calendar of Events
  • Lifetime Achievement Award
  • DIRECTORIES
  • Buyer's Guide
  • Equipment Directory
  • Materials Directory
  • EMAGAZINE
  • Current Issue
  • eMagazine Archive
  • China Issue Archive
  • Editorial Advisory Board
  • CONTACT
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe to eMagazine
  • Subscribe to eNewsletters
Painting & Coating Industry (PCI) logo Powder coating summit logo
search
cart
facebook twitter linkedin youtube
  • Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Painting & Coating Industry (PCI) logo Powder coating summit logo
  • NEWS
    • Latest News
    • Market Trends & Reports
    • Price Alerts
    • Subscribe to eNewsletters
    • Global Top 10/ PCI 25
    • Weekly Featured Article
    • COATLE Word Game
  • PRODUCTS
    • Product News
    • Must See Products and Services
  • MATERIALS
    • Additives
    • Resins/Polymers
    • Pigments
    • Equipment
    • Distributors
  • TECHNOLOGIES
    • Adhesives
    • Architectural Coatings
    • FINISHING
      • Finishing News
      • Finishing Technologies
      • Finishing Equipment
      • Finishing Today
    • Industrial Coatings
    • Nanotechnology
    • Powder Coatings
    • Solventborne
    • Special Purpose Coatings
    • Sustainability
    • UV Coatings
    • Waterborne
  • RESOURCES
    • Columns
      • Ask Joe Powder
      • Did you know?
      • Distribution Dive
      • Focus on Canada
      • Formulating With Mike
      • Innovation Insights
      • Moody's Coatings Conundrums
      • Powder Coating Perspectives
      • Target the Market
      • TiO2 Insider
    • Blogs
      • Editor's Viewpoint
      • Industry Insights
    • Coatings Supplier Handbook
    • Podcasts and Videos
      • COAT-IT! Podcast
      • Videos/PCI TV
    • PCI Store
    • Classifieds
    • eBooks
    • Sponsor Insights
    • White Papers
    • COATLE Word Game
  • EVENTS
    • Coatings Trends & Technologies Summit
    • Paint and Coatings Academy
    • Webinars
    • Calendar of Events
    • Lifetime Achievement Award
  • DIRECTORIES
    • Buyer's Guide
    • Equipment Directory
    • Materials Directory
  • EMAGAZINE
    • Current Issue
    • eMagazine Archive
    • China Issue Archive
    • Editorial Advisory Board
  • CONTACT
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Subscribe to eMagazine
    • Subscribe to eNewsletters
  • SIGN UP!
Sustainable

What Can the Coatings Industry Learn From the Agrochemical Industry?

By Tony Mash
Journey to Sustainability blog
December 13, 2013

This month, the PCI sustainability blog is going outside the realm of paint to learn from a completely different industry that has relevance for all companies in the coatings industry. The lesson comes from a founding member of The Sustainability Consortium (TSC) that has boldly announced a significant change to its business model, which embraces all three pillars of Sustainability.

Syngenta is one of the largest agrochemical and seed companies in the world, with sales of $14 billion. It has a major presence in all continents including North and South America. The company traditionally manufactures and markets agrochemicals used by farmers to help control weeds, insects and molds. It has in recent years developed a range of seed products, recognising the synergistic relationship between agrochemicals and seeds businesses at a time of significant technical change in both families of products. The agrochemical and fertiliser industries have been criticised for many years by a number of NGOs who favour ‘organic’ methods of cultivation that do not leave synthetic chemical residues in the soil and in the agricultural products that find their way into consumer markets.

Over the last three years, Syngenta has been developing its sustainability strategy. It has concluded that the most effective way of increasing the supply of food to meet the ever-increasing population of the world is to increase the productivity of farmers. In September 2013, Syngenta launched its new direction in the world financial press and announced its revised mission to educate farmers to be more productive. Put another way, Syngenta is looking to teach its customers to use LESS of its products, not more!  

The company sees the farmer as the change agent central to:

  • increasing food supply while minimising waste;
  • planning greater diversity of planting to reduce degradation of farmland; and
  • improving health and reducing poverty.

While many of the programmes to deliver on these ambitious goals are not yet in place or even clearly defined, Syngenta has committed itself to follow this path forward and deliver what it can in the medium term, using the technologies and R&D resources at its disposal.

What is clear is that Syngenta is prepared to change its business focus and, as a result, the direction of its R&D efforts. According to the new business model, the company will increase its focus on understanding the impact of its technologies downstream, improving them in ways that will make their existing products more active, and then help downstream customers streamline their own processes to make best use of the Syngenta products and services on offer. In this model, training and consultation become key to business success for Syngenta and the farming community, and a potential source of increased competiveness and profit to both communities.

Syngenta CEO, Mike Mack, was reported in the Financial Times of London as saying that his company’s new strategy was ‘not necessarily intuitive’. Senior executives in the coatings industry might feel the same? 

Comparing the language of the agrochemicals industry with that of coatings, the ‘change agent’ role played by the farmer in the agrochemical industry becomes that of the coatings applicator/decorator in the coatings industry. The goal of ‘increased activity’ in the agrochemical industry becomes ‘enhanced functionality’ in coatings. Syngenta’s drive to teach farmers to use less is translated into coatings products and services that, for example:

  • create the desired coating performance in a reduced number of coats; 
  • teach customers to only buy as much as they need and no more; and
  • promote and, if necessary, fund recycle programmes to ensure that waste paint products are not landfilled or incinerated but do find an end use valuable to society.

As far as coatings are concerned, one can immediately see a shared vision of the way forward between Syngenta and AkzoNobel; a company whose CEO, Ton Büchner, has stated publically that ‘Sustainability IS his business’. While AkzoNobel is not alone on this journey, there are many companies in the coatings industry that have a long way to go to pursue sustainable development!    

In a recent presentation from Syngenta at the Sustainability Leaders’ Conference in London, the company offered the following advice points based in its own experience. They are:

  • You need a bold ambition that builds on where your business can make a difference;
  • Don’t try to invent a sustainability strategy, but work on the sustainability of your strategy;
  • Translate a top-down vision into bottom-up commitments;
  • Implement measures that are relevant to the business and meaningful to society; and
  • Don’t be afraid if you do not have everything sorted out from the beginning.

In 2014, I look forward to seeing many more companies in the coatings industry following this model and working ‘on the sustainability of their strategy’. This approach is not only positive for society as a whole but also ensures a sustainable and profitable future, particularly for those companies that are early adopters.

 Happy holidays, and a more sustainable New Year to all. 

KEYWORDS: sustainability

Share This Story

Tony Mash is the president of TMA Consulting Inc., a business consulting services company in the chemical and allied industry space with a current focus on Sustainability as applied to all aspects of the Global Coatings Industry.
You must login or register in order to post a comment.

Alan Rich
February 22, 2014
First of all, it should be clear that what is agrochemical and how it is related to coatings. There are many coating industry like decoralamerica which also provide decorative coating equipments. It is really good if coating industries are learning from the agrochemical industries. Atleast they can get the idea of working with agrochemicals.

Report Abusive Comment

Blog Topics

Editor's Viewpoint

Journey to Sustainability

Industry Insights

Recent Comments

clearly and in detail

Broken Planet Stargazing Hoodie

Can we apply form the out of USA...

Education for Kids

The team at window film brooklyn is...

Manage My Account
  • eMagazine
  • eNewsletter
  • Online Registration
  • Subscription Customer Service

CTT Registration Now Open

CTT Registration Now Open

The Coatings Minute: Print Returns with PCI’s New Showcase Issue

The Coatings Minute: Print Returns with PCI’s New Showcase Issue

The Coatings Minute: Your Inside Look at PCInnovations

The Coatings Minute: Your Inside Look at PCInnovations

The Coatings Minute: Your Guide to the 2025 Coatings Supplier Handbook

The Coatings Minute: Your Guide to the 2025 Coatings Supplier Handbook

More Videos

Sponsored Content

Sponsored Content is a special paid section where industry companies provide high quality, objective, non-commercial content around topics of interest to the PCI audience. All Sponsored Content is supplied by the advertising company and any opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily reflect the views of PCI or its parent company, BNP Media. Interested in participating in our Sponsored Content section? Contact your local rep!

close
  • Modern arapartment complex painted in bright colors.
    Sponsored byEPS - Engineered Polymer Solutions

    Architectural Polymers Leading the Way in Coatings Innovation

  • paint sprayer in a workshop
    Sponsored byallnex

    Enabling Performance and Compliance: allnex Introduces a New Line of VOC Exempt Solvent-Borne Resins

Popular Stories

BASF SE Logo

BASF Reportedly Eyes Exit from Coatings

No. 7 BASF Coatings

BASF Comments on Potential Sale of Coatings Business

No. 3 AkzoNobel

AkzoNobel’s $1.4B Divestment Signals Strategy Shift



PCI Buyers Guide

Submit a Request for Proposal (RFP) to suppliers of your choice with details on what you need with a click of a button

Start your RFP

Browse our Buyers Guide for manufacturers and distributors of all types of coatings products and much more!

Find Suppliers

Events

September 3, 2025

Coatings Trends & Technologies Summit

The Coatings Trends & Technologies (CTT) Summit is an annual conference for both liquid and powder coatings formulators and manufacturers to discuss innovations in coatings technology. This event combines high-quality technical presentations, a resource-rich exhibit hall, and dedicated networking opportunities to connect scientific minds, foster innovation, and cultivate game-changing new ideas!

January 1, 2030

Webinar Sponsorship Information

For webinar sponsorship information, visit www.bnpevents.com/webinars or email webinars@bnpmedia.com.

View All Submit An Event

Poll

Longest-running laboratory experiment

What is the longest-running laboratory experiment?
View Results Poll Archive

Products

CTT Summit Short Courses (Live 9/3/25)

Coatings Trends & Technologies Summit is expanding its offerings with four short courses. These short courses will offer an extensive day of interactive learning.

See More Products
pci  webinar april 2025

PCI CASE EBOOK
×

Keep the info flowing with our eNewsletters!

Get the latest industry updates tailored your way.

JOIN TODAY!
  • RESOURCES
    • Advertise
    • Contact Us
    • Directories
    • Store
    • Want More
  • SIGN UP TODAY
    • Create Account
    • eMagazine
    • eNewsletters
    • Customer Service
    • Manage Preferences
  • SERVICES
    • Marketing Services
    • Reprints
    • Market Research
    • List Rental
    • Survey & Sample
  • STAY CONNECTED
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • Youtube
    • X (Twitter)
  • PRIVACY
    • PRIVACY POLICY
    • TERMS & CONDITIONS
    • DO NOT SELL MY PERSONAL INFORMATION
    • PRIVACY REQUEST
    • ACCESSIBILITY

Copyright ©2025. All Rights Reserved BNP Media.

Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing

Painting & Coating Industry (PCI) logo Powder coating summit logo
search
cart
facebook twitter linkedin youtube
  • Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Painting & Coating Industry (PCI) logo Powder coating summit logo
  • NEWS
    • Latest News
    • Market Trends & Reports
    • Price Alerts
    • Subscribe to eNewsletters
    • Global Top 10/ PCI 25
    • Weekly Featured Article
    • COATLE Word Game
  • PRODUCTS
    • Product News
    • Must See Products and Services
  • MATERIALS
    • Additives
    • Resins/Polymers
    • Pigments
    • Equipment
    • Distributors
  • TECHNOLOGIES
    • Adhesives
    • Architectural Coatings
    • FINISHING
      • Finishing News
      • Finishing Technologies
      • Finishing Equipment
      • Finishing Today
    • Industrial Coatings
    • Nanotechnology
    • Powder Coatings
    • Solventborne
    • Special Purpose Coatings
    • Sustainability
    • UV Coatings
    • Waterborne
  • RESOURCES
    • Columns
      • Ask Joe Powder
      • Did you know?
      • Distribution Dive
      • Focus on Canada
      • Formulating With Mike
      • Innovation Insights
      • Moody's Coatings Conundrums
      • Powder Coating Perspectives
      • Target the Market
      • TiO2 Insider
    • Blogs
      • Editor's Viewpoint
      • Industry Insights
    • Coatings Supplier Handbook
    • Podcasts and Videos
      • COAT-IT! Podcast
      • Videos/PCI TV
    • PCI Store
    • Classifieds
    • eBooks
    • Sponsor Insights
    • White Papers
    • COATLE Word Game
  • EVENTS
    • Coatings Trends & Technologies Summit
    • Paint and Coatings Academy
    • Webinars
    • Calendar of Events
    • Lifetime Achievement Award
  • DIRECTORIES
    • Buyer's Guide
    • Equipment Directory
    • Materials Directory
  • EMAGAZINE
    • Current Issue
    • eMagazine Archive
    • China Issue Archive
    • Editorial Advisory Board
  • CONTACT
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Subscribe to eMagazine
    • Subscribe to eNewsletters
  • SIGN UP!