Biocides/Preservatives

The EU has a special regulation covering the use of Biocides – the Biocidal Products Regulation (BPR) – and when the UK left the EU in January 2021, it took on its own version of BPR. Over recent years, BPR in the EU has seen strict rules introduced to limit new preservatives being brought to the market. This has been coupled with an ongoing review process leading to a reduction in the number of existing preservatives that are allowed to be used. In addition, EU Classification, Labelling and Packaging (CLP) regulations – also carried over into UK law - are also having an impact on available preservatives, as they set a limit to concentrations of preservatives that can be used in consumer products, such as paints.

As a result, in the EU and UK today, only a handful of preservatives remain suitable for use within the coatings sector. The direction of travel in terms of regulation seems likely to restrict that number still further.

This limiting of options is important, and potentially damaging, to the coatings sector. For example, consumers generally expect the products they buy to last, and that applies to paint even once it is opened and applied. Moreover, many coatings are designed to help extend the life-cycle of other products or infrastructure, such as car chassis, bridges, or to keep ships’ hulls’ clean (see antifouling). To do that, some BCF members’ products need to be formulated with biocides. This is either to act as preservatives – as in the case of water-based paints to prevent the growth of mould or micro-organisms and so minimising the generation of leftover waste product – or to make coatings more durable, thus reducing the need for more frequent repainting.