United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
National Risk Management
Research Laboratory
Research Triangle Park, NC 27711
Research and Development
EPA/600/SR-96/026 April 1996
EPA Project Summary
Evaluation of Barriers to the Use of
Radiation-Cured and Hot Melt
Coatings in Coated and Laminated
Substrate Manufacturing
Jill B.Vitas, Geary D. McMinn, and William L. Blake, Jr.
In support of EPA's Source Reduc-
tion Review Project (SRRP), maximum
achievable control technology (MACT)
standards development, and the Pollu-
tion Prevention Act, EPA's National Risk
Management Laboratory (NRMRL) is
investigating the current industrial use
of and barriers to the extended use of
radiation-cured coatings in SRRP and
MACT categories. The report gives re-
sults of a study to investigate and iden-
tify the technical, educational, and eco-
nomic barriers to the use and imple-
mentation of radiation-cured and hot
melt coatings in coated and laminated
substrate manufacturing. Important bar-
riers include: capital cost, adhesive
cost, lack of data on physical proper-
ties of adhesives, and aesthetics of the
end product. The report identifies work
areas that could help overcome techni-
cal, educational, and economic barri-
ers identified. Discussed opportunities
include: (1) convening a focus group
to discuss identified barriers, identify
other barriers, and begin the process
to overcome these barriers; (2) investi-
gating the use of radiation-curable sys-
tems in Europe; (3) researching the
marketing difficulties associated with
non-solvent-based products; (4) inves-
tigating state economic incentive pro-
grams to determine if financial assis-
tance can be given to manufacturing
facilities to help encourage the testing
of radiation-curable adhesives; and (5)
developing a software system that will
provide physical property data and
other important information on alterna-
tive adhesive formulations to assist fa-
cilities in identifying alternative to their
current solvent-based adhesives.
This Project Summary was devel-
oped by EPA's National Risk Manage-
ment Research Laboratory's Air Pollu-
tion Prevention and Control Division,
Research Triangle Park, NC, to an-
nounce key findings of the research
project that is fully documented in a
separate report of the same title (see
Project Report ordering information at
back).
Background
Section 4(b) of the Pollution Prevention
Act of 1990 requires the U.S. Environ-
mental Protection Agency (EPA) to "re-
view regulations of the Agency prior and
subsequent to their proposal to determine
their effect on source reduction." In sup-
port of the Pollution Prevention Act, EPA
established the Source Reduction Review
Project (SRRP) to focus its review on regu-
lations (and anticipated regulated indus-
tries) that will soon be mandated under
the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990
(CAAA), the Clean Water Act (CWA), or
the Resource Conservation and Recovery
Act (RCRA). A goal of SRRP tasks is to
ensure that source reduction and multi-
media issues are considered during the
development of upcoming air, water, and
hazardous waste standards.
Maximum achievable control technology
(MACT) standards to reduce hazardous
air pollutants (HAPs) from major source
categories are regulations under the CAA
and a focus of SRRP. Promulgation of
these regulations began in 1992 and will
continue into the decade and into the next
century. The MACT standards offer EPA
an excellent opportunity to use SRRP to
incorporate pollution prevention (P2) mea-
sures into the upcoming standards for spe-
-------
cific source categories. P2 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.
In support of the SRRP Program, MACT
standards development, and the Pollution
Prevention Act, EPA's National Risk Man-
agement Laboratory (NRMRL) is investi-
gating P2 opportunities for product and
material substitutions 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
radiation-curable coatings. Adhesive-
Coated and Laminated Substrates (SICs
2671 and 2672—typical products include
masking and duct tape, adhesive labels,
and adhesive coated foam products-an
industry facing upcoming MACT standards,
was selected as an industrial segment for
this study. Thus, when the MACT stan-
dards are developed, EPA will have a
better understanding of coating technolo-
gies that are feasible P2 alternatives for
this industry.
Introduction
The report gives results of a study to
investigate and identify the technical, edu-
cational, and economic barriers to the use
and implementation of radiation-curable
coatings within the coated and laminated
substrate industry. The project involved
preparing category analyses, identifying
and classifying barriers to the use and
implementation of the technology, evalu-
ating and assessing the environmental
impacts, and identifying P2 and source
reduction research opportunities within the
coated and laminated substrate industry.
Information was collected for the project
from a review of current technical litera-
ture through cooperation with industry lead-
ers and the leading trade organizations;
and through visits to coated and lami-
nated substrate facilities, radiation-curable
coating and equipment suppliers, and an
international trade show.
Radiation-curable processes for the
coated and laminated substrate industry
involve either electron beam (EB) or ultra-
violet (UV) curing mechanisms to pen-
etrate and cure the radiation-curable coat-
ing to the substrate. These two methods
of curing provide many technical, economi-
cal, and environmental benefits to tradi-
tional solvent-based systems including in-
creased bonding strength, resistance to
chemical and thermal elements, increased
throughput, reduced cost per unit area,
and substantially lower environmental
emissions. In addition, both EB and UV
curing systems can use most available
substrates, present coating application sys-
tems, and less floor space.
The report divides the barriers to imple-
menting EB and UV curable systems into
three categories: technical, economic, and
educational. Separate chapters examine
each of the three barrier categories.
Technical barriers include: the lack of
industry knowledge of these systems since
no production line for coated and lami-
nated substrate manufacturers is operat-
ing in the U.S.; equipment suitability; ma-
terials availability (coatings are manufac-
tured and sold by few companies); prod-
uct and adhesive performance character-
istics (appearance, odor, and tack differ-
ences with solvent-based products); and
health and safety issues (radiation as a
means of curing).
Economic barriers provide a challenge
to implementing either an EB or UV cur-
ing system. Economic concerns involve
the capital investment of the system, pric-
ing pressure from customers and com-
petitors, the payback period of the ma-
chinery, and operating costs of the radia-
tion-curing (specifically, EB curing) mecha-
nism.
The primary education barriers to imple-
menting either an EB or UV curing system
are divided into the viewpoints of man-
agement and other employees. Manage-
ment expressed concern about the cost,
performance, and productivity of the ra-
diation curing technology, and other em-
ployees expressed concerns regarding
handling radiation curable coatings and
radiation safety.
Hot melt adhesives, another alternative
to solvent-based systems, are also dis-
cussed in this report. Hot melt adhesives
are solids that are heated to their melting
points and applied to the substrate in their
liquid state. Hot melt adhesives are cur-
rently used in many applications and pro-
vide an alternative to the solvent-based
systems. Certain hot melt adhesives can
be reformulated and used as the EB
system's adhesive. Technical, economic,
and educational factors of hot melt adhe-
sives are also examined.
The report identifies work areas that
could help overcome the technical, edu-
cational, and economic barriers identified.
Among the opportunities discussed are:
• Convening a focus group of repre-
sentatives from industry, trade asso-
ciations, environmental agencies, ra-
diation-curable coating and equipment
suppliers, and other interested par-
ties to discuss identified barriers, iden-
tify others, and begin the process to
overcome these barriers.
• Investigating the use of radiation-cur-
able systems in European markets to
determine the problems or opportuni-
ties they have discovered as a result
of actual production using these al-
terative adhesives.
• Researching the marketing difficulties
associated with non-solvent-based
products. A study of specific charac-
teristics of a product which improve
its marketability (e.g., aesthetics)
would be beneficial.
• Reviewing state economic incentive
programs (EIPs) which assist facili-
ties in developing low-volatile organic
compound (VOC) surface coatings.
This information could be transmitted
to coated and laminated substrate
manufacturers to assist them in meet-
ing requirements to receive the finan-
cial benefits.
• Developing a publicly available com-
puter-based information system which
would contain the performance char-
acteristics of various adhesive formu-
lations to assist coated and laminated
substrate manufacturers in finding al-
ternatives to solvent-based adhesives.
-------
J. Vitas, G. McMinn, and W. Blake 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 ofRadiation-
Cured and Hot Melt Coatings in Coated and Laminated Substrate Manufac-
turing, " (Order No. PB96-153 564; Cost: $28.00, 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 Pollution Prevention and Control Division
National Risk Management Research Laboratory
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Research Triangle Park, NC 27711
United States
Environmental Protection Agency
National Risk Management Research Laboratory (G-72)
Cincinnati, OH 45268
Official Business
Penalty for Private Use $300
BULK RATE
POSTAGE & FEES PAID
EPA
PERMIT No. G-35
EPA/600/SR-96/026
------- |