What’s New at ACS 2026
Trends and innovations at the show
1. What trends do you expect for the American Coatings Show 2026?
Eduardo Santana: We expect sustainability to remain the overarching trend, driving innovation across coatings technologies. Regulatory-driven reformulation toward low-VOC, high-solids coatings will continue, especially in automotive and industrial applications. A key challenge for manufacturers is the uncertainty around the future exempt status of solvents like PCBTF and tertiary butyl acetate (TBAC), which forces companies to reformulate without these solvents while maintaining performance. In addition, we see acceleration in fiber-based packaging solutions and a transition toward PFAS-free chemistries to meet evolving regulatory and environmental demands.
Patrick McFarlane: In response to the uncertainty from tariff policies, coupled with lingering supply-chain disruptions, companies continue to identify and qualify reliable, local supply where available as well alternate sourcing. ACS provides a fantastic venue to address these needs by effectively bringing together a strong supplier presence under a single roof.
Ralph J. Woerheide: In addition to new materials, the topic of sustainable raw materials will certainly play an increasingly important role. Even though the topic of ‘organic’ may not be particularly relevant in the United States at the moment, the topic of ‘microplastics’ is gaining momentum. Another growing trend is AI, which is currently being heavily promoted in the field of R&D. It is difficult for me to say whether this can be described as a trend. Another topic is processes. My perception is that companies are increasingly understanding that their processes need to be reviewed to find out to what extent artificial intelligence can lead to productivity gains.
2. What will be your focus at the show?
Eduardo Santana: Our focus will be on demonstrating how “Cardura E10P” glycidyl ester enables the production of high-solids acrylic polyol binders for VOC-compliant automotive and industrial coatings, meeting stringent SCAQMD regulations without PCBTF or t-butyl acetate, while maintaining appearance and durability. We’ll also showcase “VeoVa” vinyl ester-based solutions for paper coatings, delivering superior water and grease resistance with full recyclability. Finally, we’ll position “Versatic” monomers as PFAS-free alternatives to fluoropolymers, offering balanced performance in water repellency, chemical resistance, and long-term durability.
Patrick McFarlane: Brenntag will showcase the broad range of products we offer through our strong principal network. Your one-stop-shop, the principal network products offering addresses your broad marketplace needs—from environmentally friendly products to high solids products, additives, pigments and more. As a leading distributor, we’re focused on simplifying supply chain complexity, bringing customers product reliability and delivering value-added services that sustainably support your go-to market approach.
Ralph J. Woerheide: The topic of the Smart Paint Factory, which I addressed several years ago, will be featured again this year by Metromation. This involves measurement technology solutions that help industry to discover the above-mentioned reserves of the so-called hidden factory. Specifically, we are taking measurement technology from the laboratory into production and see measurement technology primarily as a data supplier that makes the above-mentioned application of artificial intelligence possible in the first place. At Metromation, we are therefore adding process analysis and data engineering to our portfolio.
