During SEMA, 3M and BASF Automotive Refinish announced a partnership to establish sustainable practices in collision repair.

3M and BASF have announced a collaboration to jointly develop and provide new Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and training content for the collision repair industry. These new procedures will be tailored to help body shops achieve greater sustainability and productivity in the automotive refinish process.

During a press conference, representatives from 3M and BASF explained that the procedures and training content are expected to roll out in early Q1 2025.

Dave Gunderson, President of 3M’s Automotive Aftermarket Division, and his counterpart, Rahel Reichmann, Head of Sustainability for BASF Refinish Coatings, emphasized the importance of industry leaders working together to reduce the carbon and environmental footprint across the collision repair sector.

As sustainability gains prominence in the industry and among the next generation, 3M and BASF identified an opportunity to enhance refinishing process efficiency for more sustainable repairs. Improving paint process sustainability can help shops reduce material waste and emissions while achieving their fundamental objectives: more productive processes delivering better quality cost-effectively.

3M and BASF Refinish acknowledged that widespread adoption of more sustainable repair processes in the industry required a clearly defined vision of what sustainability means for shops and how it can be easily implemented.

Standardized processes can reduce material waste, overspray, rework, downtime, and Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) emissions.

“Leadership in sustainability isn’t optional—it’s expected,” stated Dave Gunderson, President of 3M’s Automotive Aftermarket Division, during the press conference. “Often, shops associate becoming more sustainable with new, expensive products or complex processes. With these new training modules, 3M and BASF are taking important steps to help define how to advance sustainability meaningfully in the repair process. We’re proud to collaborate with BASF Refinish and hope these processes show shops that the path to greater sustainability can be simple, cost-effective, and beneficial for developing technician skills.”

For her part, Rahel Reichmann, Head of Sustainability for Refinish Coatings at BASF, explained: “By collaborating with one of the world’s leading innovators, 3M, we’re improving our customers’ environmental footprint beyond our BASF sustainable paint portfolio by providing shops with standardized operating procedures focused on reducing waste, emissions, and improving efficiency,” she stated. “We’ve confirmed with a significant number of body shops worldwide that a sustainable shop definition and certification are needed to advance the industry.”