Polski
Lower-temperature paints and recycled gypsum: the finishing materials industry is speeding up
September 2026 made it clear where the global construction and finishing materials industry is heading: less energy spent on production, more recycled raw material, and an increasingly bold push of artificial intelligence into decision-making processes. Two major players in construction chemicals and finishing materials – AkzoNobel and Saint-Gobain – announced moves this same month that are well worth following from the perspective of the Polish interior finishing market, too.
01 · Paints and Coatings
AkzoNobel bets on powder coatings cured at lower temperatures [1]
In early September 2026, AkzoNobel opened a new research laboratory in Sassenheim, the Netherlands, dedicated entirely to powder coatings. The €7.5 million investment is no coincidence – it strengthens the company's largest global R&D centre, and at its core are coatings that can be cured at lower temperatures than those used so far. It may sound like a technical detail, but in practice it translates into real energy savings in the production process and a smaller carbon footprint for coatings used on metal components in construction – from aluminium profiles to joinery elements and steel structures.
This is a sign that paint and protective coating manufacturers increasingly treat energy efficiency not as a marketing add-on but as a genuine direction for technological development. For architects and contractors, this means that in the coming years the market will see more solutions combining the aesthetics and durability of coatings with lower energy consumption already at the application stage.
02 · Recycling and AI
Saint-Gobain: gypsum's second life and artificial intelligence in the company's strategy [2]
Saint-Gobain announced its own plans around the same time. In September 2026, the company's Canadian division expanded the CertainTeed Recycle programme, aimed at recovering thousands of tonnes of gypsum waste – from both construction sites and manufacturing plants – instead of sending it to landfill. It is a step toward a closed-loop economy in a segment that has generated huge volumes of hard-to-manage construction waste for decades.
Interestingly, almost at the same time, on September 7, Saint-Gobain appointed a new Chief AI Officer, tasked with accelerating the rollout of AI across the company's global building materials platform. The pairing of these two moves – recycling and AI – is no coincidence: artificial intelligence is increasingly supporting the logistics of raw material recovery, forecasting demand for materials, and optimizing production. As one of the world's largest manufacturers of finishing materials, Saint-Gobain shows that both trends are now moving into the mainstream, not just into ESG reports.
03
What this means for the industry in Poland
Both examples – although they concern global corporations operating in the Netherlands, France, and Canada – clearly illustrate the direction the entire finishing materials industry is heading: lower energy use in coating production and systemic recycling of construction waste supported by digital tools. These are exactly the topics – modern construction technologies, finishing materials, and smart home solutions – that will be discussed at Warsaw Home Build. If you're curious how innovations in coatings and the circular economy translate into real products available on the Polish market, we invite you to visit the fair and talk to exhibitors who are already implementing similar solutions today.
Invitation
Want to see for yourself how next-generation powder coatings and recycled materials are transforming the finishing market? Visit Warsaw Home Build - International Trade Fair for Architecture and Finishing Materials and talk to manufacturers already implementing these technologies today. It's also a chance to see how artificial intelligence supports material design and selection in practice.
Warsaw Home Build 2026Footnotes
[1] Coatings World — https://www.coatingsworld.com/breaking-news/akzonobel-opens-powder-coatings-innovation-lab/[2] Saint-Gobain / Manufacturing Leadership Council — https://www.saint-gobain.com/en/news