Sustainable innovation is embedded in our culture. From creating resilient coatings for wind turbine blades to reformulating products with bio-based materials, our investment in innovation reflects our commitment to sustainability and meeting the challenges and opportunities associated with climate change.
Product innovation is a key element of our growth strategy. We take a center-led approach to sustainable product development initiatives as we advance our products ahead of regulatory changes and truly integrate sustainable solutions into our Building a Better World strategy.
Across RPM, we have a Product Stewardship pledge to eliminate or mitigate more than 20 chemical compounds from our product formulations around the globe. Our goal is to replace these chemicals with more sustainable alternative substances by 2030.
Guided by the Connections Creating Value pillar of our growth strategy, we promote a culture of collaboration among our operating companies. Demonstrating our commitment, in 2023, we opened the RPM Innovation Center of Excellence in Greensboro, North Carolina. This 60,000-square-foot facility is the first research and development (R&D) center shared by multiple RPM companies and is designed to foster partnership and harness the collective expertise of our associates. We expect the facility to bolster our shared technological resources and help our network of companies improve efficiencies in manufacturing and distribution.
RPM R&D Symposiums
RPM’s annual R&D Symposium is designed to spark ideas for creating new, sustainable products and ways to make existing products more environmentally friendly. The symposium includes technical presentations and educational sessions from our companies and technical leaders across the globe.
In November 2023, we hosted the 4th annual RPM Global R&D Symposium, with more than 400 leaders and associates in attendance. The virtual, two-day event included 12 sustainability-focused technical presentations, 120 poster sessions and leadership presentations. A key focus was on the collaborative work of our R&D teams to identify alternative chemistries aligned with our Product Stewardship goal. Building on the R&D Symposium, in April 2024, an R&D collaborative session was held at RPM’s new, state-of-the-art Innovation Center of Excellence.
HIGHLIGHT
Six product innovation pillars guide the development of sustainable products throughout the organization:
- Product Stewardship
- Product Durability
- Circularity and Product Recycling
- Packaging Innovation and Recycling
- Products to Save Energy
- Products to Reduce Waste
OUR PRODUCTS
Nudura, part of the Tremco Construction Products Group, has made energy savings—and in turn, cost savings—a reality for buildings around the world with its Insulated Concrete Forms (ICFs). As the world focuses on mitigating the impacts of severe weather brought on by climate change, Nudura ICFs offer extreme durability, energy efficiency and cost savings for builders and their end users.
