What we do
While all manufactured goods including paints have an environmental cost, we minimise this cost through product selection, usage, and waste management.
Our water based, low VOC (volatile organic compounds) paints are low odour which is great for your home environment and the global environment.
- Pure Flat and Low Sheen contain less than 1 gram VOC per litre.
- Murowash contain less than 10 grams VOC per litre.
- Clear Acrylic Sealer contains less than 13 grams VOC per litre.
- Murobond Sealer and Binder contains less than 4 grams VOC per litre.
- Murobond Cement Paint, WSC and Mineral Silicate contain zero VOC.
Controlled manufacture
- Our manufacturing procedures contain and recycle waste water as far as possible (83% at June 2021).
- We minimise the use of packaging, seek recyclable options and divert 100% of unused and recovered recyclable material from landfill.
- All externally supplied electricity we use is from Government certified renewable supplies.
- We accept clean drums for recycling.
- Murobond Paints are formulated for maximum performance life to reduce the environmental cost of application though less frequent repainting. All Murobond products exceed Government Paint Committee requirements.
How you can help:
- Select water based paints wherever possible (nearly everywhere) and you will dramatically reduce the level of VOC released by your painting requirements.
- Ensure thorough preparation and application strictly to label directions; this will make your paint job last longer which saves money as well as the environment.
- Only order what you need. Murobond or your painter can help estimating what you need to minimise over ordering.
- Left over paint can now be recovered in some locations around Australia. If you can’t get to any of these, try using it up as undercoat, inside cupboards or sheds or give it to a friend. Murobond accepts leftover water-based paint for recycling at its Artarmon headquarters.
- Keep it clean. Periodic washing down of external paint significantly reduces the build up of dirt, organic material and microbes which will degrade your paint faster – and it looks better too.
Murobond Coatings VOC Levels
Volatile organic compounds An increasingly common term in the paint industry and environmental discussions generally is the term VOC which is the short form of Volatile Organic Compounds. Increasingly pressure is being placed on paint makers and paint users to look for low or zero VOC products, however for us to make the best decision we need to better understand what VOC’s are.
‘Organic Compounds’ means chemicals that are built on carbon and ‘Volatile’ is currently accepted in most
countries as a boiling point of less than 250°C. However, the debate around VOC’s is a political one and this has led to exemptions and inclusions which are different in different countries, and often inconsistent. Further to this, there is a difference between different VOC’s with alcohols not only being enjoyable on occasion, but also much shorter lived in the atmosphere (and therefore much less damaging) than its excluded brother acetone.
In Australia, acetone – which is an organic compound – and whose boiling point is considerably lower than 50°C is not classified as a VOC while ammonia which is not an organic compound is classified as a VOC.
More recently those with an interest in one of the most common coalescents have successfully argued for the
acceptance of a new test method which shows a boiling point of 251°C – under the old test method its boiling point was deemed to be 246°C! Our declared results below include this coalescent if it is present in our formulae (most don’t contain this ingredient).
| MUROBOND PRODUCT | VOC LEVEL grams per litre |
|---|---|
| Aqua Glaze Pearl | 28 |
| Bridge Paint | 49 |
| Cement Paint | 0 |
| Clear Acrylic Sealer | 13 |
| Silicate Matt Clear | 0 |
| Metal Primer | 49 |
| Mineral Silicate | 0 |
| Murobond Primer | 52 |
| Murobond Sealer | 4 |
| Murolast | 8 |
| Murolast Matt | 72 |
| Murothane | 69 |
| Murowash | 10 |
| Pentimento Lime Wash | 40 |
| PURE Aqua Gloss | 54 |
| PURE Aqua Satin | 52 |
| PURE Ceiling flat | 46 |
| PURE Chalk | <1 |
| PURE Grain | 38 |
| PURE Low Sheen | <1 |
| PURE Wall Flat | <1 |
| Rust Paint part 1 | 19.1 |
| Rust Paint part 2 | 19.3 |
| Rust Paint part 3 | 19.1 |
| Woodwash Exterior | 22 |
| Woodwash Interior | 13 |
| WSC | 0 |
