United States
               Environmental Protection
               Agency
Air and Energy Engineering
Research Laboratory
Research Triangle Park, NC 27711
               Research and Development
EPA/600/SR-95/063
June 1995
EPA      Project Summary
               Evaluation  of Barriers to the
               Use  of Radiation-Cured
               Coatings  in  Can Manufacturing
               Beth W. McMinn and Steven R. Church
                The full report gives results of a study
              to investigate and identify the techni-
              cal, educational, and economic barri-
              ers to the use and implementation of
              radiation-cured coatings in can manu-
              facturing. The study is part of an EPA
              investigation of current industrial  use
              and barriers to the extended use of
              radiation-cured coatings in Source Re-
              duction  Review Project (SRRP)  and
              maximum  achievable control technol-
              ogy (MACT) standards development cat-
              egories. Among the important barriers
              were (1) an applied wet film  thickness
              of >120 mg per can of ultraviolet (UNO-
              curable  overvarnish needed  on most
              trial runs;  (2) lower than expected en-
              ergy savings; (3) inadequate cure of
              overvarnish; and (4) ink "pick off" dur-
              ing the  wet-on-wet application of the
              overvarnish to the inks. The report sug-
              gests projects that could help over-
              come technical, educational, and eco-
              nomic barriers identified.  Among the
              opportunities discussed were (1)  set-
              ting up a trial with a can manufacturer
              who is interested in using UV-curable
              inks and coatings; (2) conducting re-
              search on cationic inks and coatings,
              which have been billed as the next gen-
              eration of UV-curable inks and coat-
              ings; and (3) working with Radtech, the
              trade association  representing the ra-
              diation-curable coatings  industry, to
              develop a UV-curable coating that could
              be approved by the Food and Drug
              Administration for direct contact with
              food.
                This Project Summary was developed
              by EPA's Air and Energy  Engineering
              Research  Laboratory,  Research  Tri-
 angle Park, NC, to announce key find-
 ings of the research project that is fully
 documented in a separate report of the
 same title (see Project Report ordering
 information at back).

 Overview
  Section 4(b) of the Pollution Prevention
 Act (PPA) of 1990 requires EPA to review
 regulations of the Agency prior and sub-
 sequent to their proposal to determine their
 effect on  source reduction. In support of
 the PPA, EPA established the Source Re-
 duction Review Project (SRRP) to focus
 this review on pending regulations (and
 anticipated regulated industries) under the
 Clean Air Act (CAA), the Clean Water Act
 (CWA), or the Resource Conservation and
 Recovery Act (RCRA). One of the goals
 of SRRP tasks is to ensure that source
 reduction and multimedia issues are con-
 sidered during the development of upcom-
 ing air, water, and hazardous waste stan-
 dards.
  One important set of regulations under
 the CAA, and a focus of SRRP, are the
 standards for maximum achievable con-
 trol technology (MACT) to reduce emis-
 sions of hazardous air pollutants (HAPs).
 Promulgation of these  regulations began
 in 1992 and will continue through  the
 1990s and  into the next century.  The
 MACT standards  offer EPA an excellent
 opportunity to use SRRP to incorporate
 pollution prevention measures into the up-
 coming standards for specific source cat-
 egories.  Pollution prevention  efforts offer
 economic and  reduced health and eco-
 logical risk benefits to many sectors of
 society that are not available through tra-
 ditional pollution control methods.
                                                               Printed on Recycled Paper

-------
  In support of the SRRP Program, MACT
standards development, and the PPA, EPA
is  investigating pollution prevention  op-
portunities for product  and material sub-
stitutions  that help  industry to reduce
waste. The objective of this project was to
investigate the current  industrial use  and
barriers to the extended use of waterbased
and radiation-cured coatings in SRRP and
MACT categories. Metal Cans (SIC 3411),
an  industry facing upcoming MACT stan-
dards, was selected as an industrial seg-
ment  for  study.  When the MACT stan-
dards  are developed,  EPA will have  a
better understanding of which coating tech-
nologies  are feasible pollution prevention
alternatives for the industry.
  The full report gives results of a study
to investigate and identify the technical,
educational, and economic barriers to the
use and implementation of radiation-cured
coatings  in two-piece metal can manufac-
turing. This project involved preparing cat-
egory analyses, identifying and classifying
the use and implementation barriers, evalu-
ating  and assessing the environmental
impacts,  and identifying pollution preven-
tion and source reduction research oppor-
tunities in the two-piece metal can  indus-
try. Information was  collected  for  this
project from a review of current technical
literature, cooperation with industry lead-
ers and the  leading trade organization,
and visits to three can manufacturing fa-
cilities. (One of the visits was to a three-
piece can manufacturing facility; however,
the report focuses on two-piece manufac-
turing.)
  This project  was  initially  intended to
study both ultraviolet (UV) radiation-cured
and waterbased screen  printing inks as
possible alternatives to solvent-based  inks
with high volatile organic compound (VOC)
emissions.  During the project, it became
evident that the focus should be on  UV-
curable  inks  and  coatings.  The current
industry standard  is to use  waterbased
inks  and coatings that contain 6 to 15%
VOCs. UV-curable inks and coatings con-
tain <1%  VOCs  and would  significantly
reduce  emissions  from two-piece"  can
manufacturing operations.
   In the can manufacturing industry, there
is debate over the economic and process
benefits that UV-curable inks and coat-
ings offer. The Coors can manufacturing
plant  in Golden, CO, has been  success-
fully using UV-curable inks and overvarnish
to coat the exterior of its cans since 1976.
The  UV technology  has provided Coors
with  a number of benefits including (1)
reduced energy costs;  (2) less downtime
for maintenance and repairs; (3) less floor
space occupied by the drying/curing ovei
and (4) employee satisfaction with the n
duced operating temperatures and simple
procedures of the UV-curing oven. Coors
claims that the benefits of a UV system,
particularly the reduced energy costs, com-
pensate for the higher  material  costs  of
UV-curable inks and coatings.
  Ball Corporation had a different experi-
ence with UV-curable inks and  coatings
when it established a UV trial line at its
Findlay, OH, plant in  1986-87. The com-
pany  encountered several technological
and economic barriers that prevented Ball
from expanding its use of UV technology
beyond the trial stage. Some of the impor-
tant barriers were (1)  an applied wet film
thickness  of >120  mg  per can  of  UV-
curable overvarnish needed on most trial
runs; (2) lower than expected energy sav-
ings; (3) inadequate cure of overvarnish;
and  (4) ink "pick off  during the wet-on-
wet application of the overvarnish to the
inks.
  The full report divides the  barriers  to
implementing UV-curable inks and coat-
ings into three categories: technical, eco-
nomic, and educational. Each category is
examined separately.

-------
  Beth W. McMinn and Steven P. Church are with TRC Environmental Corp., Chapel
    Hill, NC 27514.
  Carlos M. Nunez is the EPA Project Officer (see below).
  The complete report, entitled "Evaluation of Barriers to the Use of Radiation-Cured
    Coatings in Can Manufacturing," (Order No. PB95-215810; Cost: $27.00, subject
    to change) will be available only from:
          National Technical Information Service
          5285 Port Royal Road
          Springfield, VA 22161
          Telephone: 703-487-4650
  The EPA Project Officer can be contacted at:
          Air and Energy Engineering Research Laboratory
          U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
          Research Triangle Park, NC 27711
United States
Envirbnmental Protection Agency
Center for Environmental Research Information
Cincinnati, OH 45268
Official Business
Penalty for Private Use $300
      BULK RATE
POSTAGE & FEES PAID
         EPA
   PERMIT No. G-35
EPA/600/SR-95/063

-------