Sustainability was at the forefront of ArcelorMittal's Paint Sustainability Innovation Awards (PSIA) that have resumed this year after two years of interruption. Known since 2014 the as Paint Suppliers Innovation Awards, the name of the challenge has changed to reflect the growing importance of sustainability expected from our suppliers in their ideas.
"Retaining our leadership position in pre-painted steels requires exploring innovative concepts making organic coated steel more sustainable. While cost-effectiveness and societal impact remain major pillars of sustainability, environmental differentiation and more precisely decarbonisation efforts from our paint suppliers are even more expected", explained Jean-Luc Thirion, head of Flat Products Research and Development at ArcelorMittal in his keynote speech during the ceremony. He continued: "Just like the XCarb™ steel substrates that we produce today, we need to extend this concept to organic coated steel dedicated to the construction and industry sectors.. For that, innovation is required from our suppliers to lower coatings' emissions."
Introducing the keynote speech part of the ceremony, Eric Niedziela, VP Climate Action Europe and chairman of ArcelorMittal France, explained ArcelorMittal's commitments and roadmap to decarbonise steelmaking and provided an insight of the political and economic contexts in which we navigate to make our journey to zero a reality.
The recently completed 2022 edition of the PSIA has enabled identification of promising ideas.
The scope of the submissions included:
Judging panel members from various ArcelorMittal departments in Europe and Canada – research and development, purchasing and marketing – have designated the three following winners from the 12 companies shortlisted: