AkzoNobel: Carbon reduction competition in the vehicle repair industry

AkzoNobel's Vehicle Repair (VR) Sustainability Challenge brings together strategic partners from across the vehicle repair value chain, including insurance companies, fleet and leasing companies, bodyshops and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). The 24-hour event will take place in Amsterdam from November 21-22, 2023. The VR Sustainability Challenge will focus on three themes: Energy Transition - enabling faster decarbonization of the vehicle repair industry as it transitions to renewable energy sources; Process Efficiency - achieving key improvements across the industry; and Circular Economy - increasing circular use of materials across the value chain. This is the latest collaborative innovation challenge launched as part of AkzoNobel's Paint the Future program to develop a joint approach to tackling climate change. The company's aim is to work with its partners to go beyond linear thinking and create transparency throughout the value chain. According to the company, this should help to identify obstacles and define possible solutions to accelerate the reduction of the carbon footprint in the vehicle repair industry. "Collaboration will play a fundamental role in protecting our world far beyond tomorrow," explains Patrick Bourguignon, Director of AkzoNobel's Automotive and Specialty Coatings business. "It's about joining forces to push boundaries and find innovative ways to make a positive contribution to an ever-changing world. By investing 24 hours, we will strive together to accelerate progress in reducing our carbon footprint."

"Everyone has a part to play in reducing our carbon footprint and collaboration is crucial if we are to achieve this and realize our goals," says Wijnand Bruinsma, Director of Sustainability at AkzoNobel. "By bringing people together and encouraging collaborative discussions in this competition, we hope to generate innovative ideas for solutions that will make a real difference to our collective carbon footprint. Ultimately, this will also help to create transparency and bring us closer to our science-based goal of reducing carbon emissions by 50% both in our own operations and across the value chain." Paint the Future was launched in 2019 and has built a strong collaborative innovation ecosystem with start-ups, suppliers, customers and other value chain partners.