This Sustainability Award in Automotive 2026 has been conferred upon BASF Coatings for its novel process called ‘Overspray Free Application’ (OFLA), which falls into the Technology: Operations & Supply Chain category. OFLA is a wet-on-wet approach for painting using digital paint jets, resulting in sharp edges free from masking. The OFLA process, which uses BASF’s ColorSharp decor coat coating process, achieves 100% transfer efficiency with no need for overspraying and thus helps reduce both energy consumption and CO₂ emissions for OEMs, without any defects associated with traditional approaches.
Process innovation:
“Winning this award underscores how process innovations driven by modern paint technology can transform the sustainability performance of two-tone painting in the automotive sector, unlike traditional methods,” says Alvin Lao, Global Sustainability Lead of Automotive OEM Coatings, BASF Coatings. “The recognition by the jury for the OFLA process proves the technological approach of the process has value to add environmentally and operationally to the automotive manufacturing industry.”
OFLA deployment at Renault’s Maubeuge site:
OFLA is an initiative among BASF Coatings, Renault, and Dürr for developing innovative painting techniques. Renault has introduced OFLA at its Maubeuge plant, where the two-tone application process operates on a serial production basis. With OFLA technology, Renault can save 25% in energy (1.7 GWh/year), reduce its carbon dioxide emission to 300 tonnes per year, get rid of 300 g of contaminated paint waste per vehicle, and save paint worth 200 g without the extra paint run.
