Paint company Resene has won a competition to make use of up to $1 million of research and development services by Industrial Research.
Resene's winning proposal is to develop waterborne paints based on resins made from up to 80% sustainable ingredients, breaking the long-term reliance on gas and oil for high-performance paints.
The competition attracted more than 100 entrants, and the 10 finalists included Fisher & Paykel Appliances, Glidepath and Gallagher Group.
Industrial Research chief executive Shaun Coffey says up to 30 potential projects came out of the process and these would be pursued.
Resene technical manager Danusia Wypych says its proposal to reduce the use of oil in paint is a commercially viable project, costing $3.5 million, including Industrial Research's $1 million.
