Road markings, as essential safety devices, are crucial for reaching the goals of the EC on road safety contained in the Vision Zero strategy (zero fatalities on road accidents by 2050). Road markings are dissimilar from any other kind of paints with regards to the composition – they are systems comprising a coating layer and a glass beads layer (note that anti-skid particles used to prevent slippage belong to the glass beads layer). Being highly specialised unique type of industrial maintenance coatings, they are applied by professional sector. For these reasons, road markings should be treated separately from decorative and other types of paints and varnishes.
In their dual layer characteristics, glass beads are inalienable components playing critical role: they simultaneously protect the underlaying coating layer from abrasion and deliver retroreflectivity, which assures visibility of road markings for drivers. Due to their unique features, road markings are applied almost exclusively with special machines; only in limited cases, manual application is used. Unlike decorative or other kind of paints, they are not brushed to the soil.
Therefore, the ERF welcomes the exclusion of road markings from the scope of the possible revision as stated in the draft of the Science for Policy Report released by the Joint Research Center (JRC) of the European Commission (EC), for the following reasons:
- Road markings are not “decorative” paints, but essential safety devices;
- Road markings are complex products made of a coating layer and a glass beads layer;
- Road markings are applied by professionals (they are neither designed nor used by the DIY market);
- Road markings are not brushed, but applied with techniques that simultaneously minimize the diffusion of materials to the environment and maximize material efficiency and performance;
- Road markings are already included in the scope of the EU GPP Criteria for Road Design, Construction, and Maintenance, so their inclusion in the revision of the Ecolabel for Paints and Varnishes would create unnecessary redundancies.
Conclusions
Having exposed the critical issues related to the inclusion of road markings in the scope of the possible revision of the EU Ecolabel criteria for indoor and outdoor paints and varnishes, the ERF reiterates its constructive approach to the deployment of common European GPP criteria and would be happy to offer its expertise on this crucial matter for the future of our sectors and the European industry overall.