Waterborne Paint and Shipping Containers

Over a year into the updated regulations regarding the change from solvent based paints to waterborne paints, much has been learned about how the paints behave and how the changes will impact the shipping container industry, the environment, and the containers themselves.

Better for the Environment The obvious impact to changing to waterborne paints is the effect that it has on the environment. While waterborne paints do take longer time to dry, the paint itself is less toxic during both the initial painting at the factory and if or when the container has repairs made that need to be painted over. Better for Employees Closely related to the environment, using waterborne paint is better for the employees that paint the containers, or work around the containers while they're being painted. Less VOC's, or volatile organic compounds, mean cleaner air for everyone.

Better Technology

Transitioning to the new paint has forced suppliers to create new and innovative products, both in terms of the paint itself, and the way that it's applied.

Better Colors

Cleaner, brighter colors. One of the big concerns with waterborne paint was how it would stand up over time, and the brutal conditions that shipping containers live through. So far, it's been found to have no impact on the long term life of the color. Actually, without solvents combined into the paint the color is closer to the natural hue of the paint. Solvent based paints tend to look slightly different from when they're wet to dry, this isn't the case with waterborne paints.

All new/one trip shipping containers manufactured in China are required to be painted with waterborne paint, so it's safe to assume that all of the new shipping containers sold on the ContainerAuction.com marketplace meet this criteria. Nearly all used shipping containers, typically sold at 10-15 years old, are painted with solvent based paints.