3M and BASF Coatings Join Forces to Define Sustainable Collision Repair Practices

On 6 November 3M and BASF’s Coatings division announced a collaboration to co-develop and deliver new standard operating procedures (SOPs) and training content to the collision repair industry.

The new SOPs will be tailored to help body shops achieve greater sustainability and productivity within the automotive refinish process.

3M and BASF Coatings highlighted what is coming with their co-developed SOPs on the SEMA Show in Las Vegas. The SOPs and training content are set to be introduced through early Q1 2025.

As sustainability becomes increasingly important within the industry and to the next generation of talent, 3M and BASF Coatings saw an opportunity to drive efficiencies in the refinishing process to enable more sustainable repairs. Enhancing the sustainability of refinishing processes can help shops reduce material waste and emissions while also driving toward the foundational objectives that shops have always valued: more productive processes that deliver better quality in a more profitable way.

3M and BASF Coatings recognized that the path for the industry to widely embrace more sustainable repairs required a clearly defined vision on what sustainability can mean for shops and how it can easily be harnessed. This shared commitment to provide training solutions for the collision repair industry, coupled with 3M and BASF Coatings’ innovative products that support body shop sustainability goals, enable both global companies to join forces and produce SOPs that can help enhance sustainability in the shop. The co-created SOPs can reduce unnecessary material waste, overspray, rework and non-productivity time and volatile organic compound emissions (VOCs).

“Leadership in sustainability isn’t an option, it’s an expectation,” said Dave Gunderson, president, 3M Automotive Aftermarket Division. “Often times, shops may equate becoming more sustainable with expensive new products or complicated new processes. Starting with these new SOPs, 3M and BASF Coatings are taking the steps to help define how to meaningfully advance sustainability in the repair process. We’re proud to be collaborating with BASF Coatings, and we hope these SOPs underline to shops that the path toward greater sustainability can be simple, cost-effective, and beneficial in expanding technician skillsets.”

“By collaborating with one of the world’s leading innovators in 3M, we improve our customers’ environmental footprint beyond our BASF sustainable paint portfolio by providing shops with standard operating procedures focused on reducing waste, emissions, and improving efficiencies,” said Rahel Reichmann, Head of Sustainability for Refinish Coatings at BASF, “We have confirmed with a significant number of body shops around the world that a sustainable body shop definition and certification is needed to move the industry forward.”