TOA Paint (Thailand) Public Company Limited, or TOA, has unveiled its Green Mission policy, reinforcing its position as a leader in the decorative paint and construction materials market with a comprehensive roadmap to achieve Net Zero emissions by 2050. This initiative aims to integrate sustainable practices into the organisation, strengthening its success by obtaining the highest Carbon Footprint Reduction (CFR) labels for 40 products, as it grows into its 60th year with the sustainable resilience.
Jatuphat Tangkaravakoon, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of TOA Paint (Thailand) Public Company Limited, stated, "Climate change remains a crisis impacting the world and humanity. Following the decisions made at COP28 at the end of 2023, there was a clear emphasis on all sectors collaborating to maintain global average temperatures below 1.5 degrees Celsius. However, this year's report has indicated that greenhouse gas emissions are still 1.2% higher than last year, leading to the highest levels of global warming in history."
Mr. Jatuphat included, "As a market leader and paint manufacturer in Thailand and ASEAN for over 60 years, TOA has been committed to prioritize consumer health and environmental concerns consistently. We were the first paint manufacturer in Thailand to successfully eliminate heavy metal substances such as lead and cadmium from architectural paints since 1977. Continuously innovating safe and environmental friendly paint, prioritising health and eco-friendliness, we are ready to contribute to global efforts in mitigating the impacts of climate change through our Green Mission policy. This policy aims to drive the organisation towards achieving Net Zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, aligning with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and ESG principles in three main areas: Environment, Social, and Governance. This includes conducting business with the utmost responsibility and care for the environment, taking responsibility for stakeholders
in all dimensions, and ensuring transparency, accountability, and ethical conduct in governance while considering all stakeholders."
Dr. Panuphong Pootawang , Senior Manager of Corporate Strategy and Sustainability Development at TOA Paint (Thailand) Public Company Limited, revealed, "TOA has set a target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from its activities within the company by 50% by 2030, equivalent to more than 8,000 tons carbon dioxide equivalent or TonCO2e. We, furthermore, aim to generate carbon credits from renewable energy initiatives, transportation, waste management, and reforestation, totalling 1 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent or MTonCO2e by 2042."
Green Mission Strategies:
By managing the organisation sustainably throughout every process, TOA adheres to its TOA Circular Economy principles, maximising efficiency from start to finish, utilising resources to their fullest potential, and achieving zero waste. This is accomplished through the implementation of seven main strategies known as 7-Green:
1. Green Production: Prioritising efficiency in production processes, adhering to international standards for closed-loop systems, employing automation, and artificial intelligence, and digital transformation to minimize production time and steps, and utilising clean electricity from solar energy, along with zero waste management.
2. Green Energy: Using clean electricity from solar energy for both production and daily company activities, reducing reliance on fossil fuels, employing electric vehicle (EV) transportation systems internally and externally, and optimising transportation systems to meet customer requirement efficiently.
3. Green Value Chain: Encouraging, driving, and supporting the creation of a green environment in all activities outside the company, with both partners and customers, to create a truly green ecosystem, thereby contributing to nationwide sustainable business practices.
4. Green Partner: Collaborating with leading real estate development projects that align with sustainable business practices or Green Partners to develop safe, environmentally friendly green innovations, including various solutions to meet the needs of partners and consumers while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This includes projects such as the "TOA Recycling Ceiling Gypsum" project, which aims to reduce construction waste by recycling leftover materials and reintegrating them into new projects, resulting in over 10% reduction in the site waste, and the "World Love Paint, Expert Series," an innovative paint solution combining both primer and topcoat in a single can, making it easy to apply, saving time for painters, and significantly reducing water usage by over 78 litres per house painting.
5. Green Reforestation: Establishing "TOA SAVE US SAVE EARTH" Reforestation for Ecosystem Restoration and Sustainability project to increase green environment in communities, enhance biodiversity, maintain natural balance, absorb and sequester carbon dioxide, create learning and tourism opportunities, and generate benefit for local communities. The goal is to plant an 2 million trees by 2033.
6. Greenovation: Developing harmless products that prioritise consumer health and are environmental friendly, starting with sourcing the best raw materials and packaging under the Greenovation concept, reducing negative impacts and improving users' health and wellness. This also helps to reduce greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions and manages waste generated after end of use, such as producing plastic packaging that is 100% recyclable, using recycled plastic, and managing plastic pail recycling systems to produce the recycled plastic for reuse in a closed-loop system.
7. Green Certified: Introducing the new standard "TOA Green Certified," a symbol of quality products guaranteed by international safety standards for consumers and environmental friendly, reflecting the delivery of globally standardised, safe, health-friendly, and GHGs reducing products. For example, the ultimate eco-friendly innovation "TOA Organic Care" interior paint developed with Bio-Based technology using renewable plant-based materials, the first and only product in Thailand certified by the USDA of the United States. Also, "TOA Aqua Shield" primer and topcoat (2 in 1) paint, with a water-based formula and low odor, multi surfaces applications , as well as reducing application steps and saving more water.
In addition, TOA has been certified with carbon labels and carbon footprint reduction labels by the Thailand Greenhouse Gas Management Organisation (TGO) in the paints both water- and solvent-bases and gypsum, covering up to 320 products that dominate the decorative paint market. Such products include the flagship products for instance SuperShield, TOA Organic Care, TOA Shield-1 Nano, 4SEASONS, SUPER MATEX, Expert series (Shield, Pro, Flex), and TOA 7in1. Furthermore, TOA continuously develops products in all dimensions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Products certified with the carbon reduction label reflect the success in dedicated product innovation efforts, resulting in the actual reduction of GHGs emissions according to specified criteria. This assessment evaluates GHGs emissions throughout the product lifecycle assessment (LCA), from raw material sourcing, manufacturing , transportation, application , to end-of-use product disposal. The evaluation includes comparing the current year's product carbon footprint emission to the base year, with a reduction of at least 2% in GHGs emissions. The comparative results are then considered against evaluation criteria to register the product's carbon reduction label.
In 2023, TOA developed products that reduce GHGs emissions through the implementation of the 7-Green strategy, achieving a reduction of over 31,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent or TonCO2e, equivalent to planting over 1,800,000 trees. This helps inspire confidence in consumers to choose TOA products, not only for their innovative and quality offerings but also for their contribution to global efforts in reducing GHGs emissions and mitigating the negative impacts of climate change in the long term.
This reaffirms that TOA is the leader in the Thai paint industry, ready to stand beside all people in protecting homes, caring for the environment, and truly assisting to sustain the world.