At Liftomatic, we know our customers have to deal with a slew of regulations on a regular basis. From trucking, to environmental, to economic regulations, companies have to be aware of any changes that occur to make sure they’re still in compliance with regulations. So when organizations and governing bodies announce plans to change their standards, we carefully research the situation so that we’re in a position to help our customers who may be impacted.

Changes are coming to the paint and coating supply chain.

Green Seal is a not-for-profit organization that is dedicated to developing environmental standards for a wide variety of products and services. The Green Seal certification program is used by purchasers across the country, particularly the government and institutions. The standards look at a number of points in the life cycle of a product or service, particularly in their performance, use and disposal. They aim to reduce the environmental impact of certain products, particularly when it comes to odors or disposal needs.

Currently, Green Seal is seeking comments on a two-part proposal to overhaul standards for paints, coatings, stains, and seals. The first part involves combining the GS-11 and GS-47 standards into one standard, essentially placing all coatings under one set of standards. The second part involves the tightening of these standards in the following ways:

• Evaluating VOCs (volatile organic compounds) for all compounds that are present above .01% in a product.
• Adding triclosan to the list of prohibited components.
• Clarifying Green Seal’s stance on crystalline silica.
• Developing an allowance for PCBTF at a limited concentration in metal lacquers.

Green seal is open to comments from interested parties regarding these changes – they can be contacted up until May 31^st regarding the potential changes and impact of these changes.

The changes would require coating manufacturers to re-evaluate how they produce their coatings and what is used in their products. For some companies, the updates would be expensive and labor intensive, requiring reformulation to maintain their Green Seal ratings for paints and other coatings. However, some companies may find that the new regulations have no major effect on their product. And of course, companies can choose whether or not they continue to pursue a Green Seal rating, although letting it fall through to reduce costs could mean lost business opportunities.

While the proposed regulations are unlikely to require new material handling updates, Liftomatic is prepared to evaluate them in order to provide our customers with equipment that is capable of working with whatever new formulations they may need. We will continue to stay up-to-date with the latest changes in regulations and laws, and make sure that we are providing our customers with the most capable material handling equipment and services on the market.