ARMOR Going Green

ARMOR’s Commitment to Sustainable Corrosion Solutions

ARMOR Protective Packaging® corrosion solutions were green and sustainable long before it became an imperative. In providing corrosion inhibiting and rust removal products that are safe, clean and easy to use, ARMOR provides tremendous environmental and economic benefits while protecting public health, welfare, and the environment.

Given the importance of sustainability, ARMOR has additional resources and an increased focus on both our product line and the way we do business. Here are some of the ways that ARMOR maintains its environmental and sustainability leadership.

Sustainability and the 7 R’s of Sustainable Corrosion Management

By the most popular definition, sustainability is defined as meeting present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. As it applies to corrosion management, and the shipping and storing of metal products, sustainability means reducing the negative impact on the environment and people through increased use of renewable materials, reduction in the amount of oils and harmful chemicals used, and using less energy in manufacturing and shipping.

ARMOR’s 7 R’s of Sustainable Corrosion Management includes:

1. Reduce or eliminate use of oils, greases, coatings or other harmful chemicals.
2. Remove rust, when present, in a safe, clean and easy manner.
3. Reduction in materials used to create protective packaging.
4. Renewable products should be used as often as possible.
5. Recycled content should be used and products should be recyclable.
6. Revenue is important. Products should yield an economic benefit.
7. Reading (education) is important to identify responsible solutions.

Customers large and small are becoming increasingly aware of their impact on the environment for future generations. Fueled by Wal-Mart’s ‘packaging scorecard’, companies are implementing sustainable strategies that impact their supplier’s packaging and corrosion prevention decisions. While the primary and initial goals may have been to preserve the environment and future generations, upon close inspection, many of the 7 R’s of sustainability and “greening” are actually costs savings as well.

ARMOR improves customer sustainability efforts by:

• Offering customers eco-friendly, recycled, recyclable, safe and reusable corrosion prevention solutions and products.
• Analyzing, evaluating and recommending to customers the most effective solution to corrosion management possible.
• Combining corrosion prevention with protective packaging to eliminate hazardous chemicals, oils and redundancies in packaging.

The 7 R’s In-depth

1. Reduce or eliminate oils or other harmful chemicals.

• Oils, while effective, are hazardous to both people and the environment.
• Oils or greases require removal before processing, use or painting, adding tremendous waste and disposal issues.
• Solvent based RP liquids pose health concerns and wastewater disposal issues and costs.
• ARMOR products do not contain oils, solvents, VOCs or any harmful chemicals.

2. Remove rust when present in a safe, clean and easy manner.

• Metal Rescue™ is a water-based rust removal bath.
• It is safe on everything except rust, including skin, paint, rubber, and plastics.
• Salvaging a part from rust vs. scrapping it reduces energy usage, greenhouse gases and reduces the carbon footprint.
• Other rust removal methods such as acid baths are harmful to the environment and the person doing the de-rusting.

3. Reduction in materials used to create protective packaging.

• ARMOR WRAP® Papers are impregnated with vapor corrosion inhibitor on both sides of the paper – unlike most competitors – eliminating the need to use two pieces of paper. This provides a 50% saving in source reduction from one-side coated VCI papers!
• The Defender™ bag material is able to be reduced 25% compared to similar sized mono-extruded bags

4. Renewable products should be used as often as possible.

• ARMOR WRAP® Papers are made of a natural, renewable resource.
• ARMOR is fully RoHS compliant (a directive from the European Union that mandates certain products put in the market within the EU shall contain restrictive levels of specific hazardous substances).

5. Recycled content should be used and products should be recyclable.

• ARMOR POLY® and ARMOR WRAP® product lines are fully recyclable and made from a significant amount of recycled content without jeopardizing product quality or performance.
• ARMOR WRAP® Papers and ARMOR POLY® films are both available in biodegradable forms.

6. Revenue is important. Products should yield an economic benefit.

• ARMOR products are cost effective as they combine the corrosion inhibitor with protective packaging in one easy and clean step
• Compared to the total cost of oiling (or solvent based RPs), removing of the oil and waste water disposal costs- ARMOR products are often significant cost savings

7. Reading (education) is important to identify responsible solutions.

• ARMOR keeps informed about the latest trends and technologies in sustainable and green packaging through programs such as Michigan State University’s School of Packaging Sustainable Packaging Forum.
• Continued education through research and organizations such as NACE (National Association of Corrosion Engineers) help ARMOR influence our product development and create even greener and more sustainable corrosion solutions.