TWI Joins ‘Pristine’ Anti-Graffiti Project

Economic and Social Considerations

Graffiti costs over £1 billion per year to the UK economy, around £5.3 billion across the EU, £9.16 billion in the United States and £1.48 billion in Australia. With the estimated global cost of graffiti being over £21.94 billion per year, there are evident economic benefits to the PRISTINE project.

These clean-up costs look set to rise as graffiti-based vandalism is on the increase, with the British Transport Police reporting that quarter one of 2018 saw the highest number of graffiti attacks since 2010. These graffiti attacks tend to take place on rolling stock, at stations, tunnels, bridges, on trackside surfaces and on commercial and residential buildings. While they create a major cost to industry and public bodies who are required to clean the graffiti, there are also social implications to consider.

Although there has been a great deal of publicity given to graffiti produced by Banksy – including the positive economic effects related to increased house prices, tourism and crowds of art-lovers - most graffiti has a negative impact. Graffiti vandalism is associated with anti-social behaviour, fly-tipping and littering. This creates a negative perception of areas and encourages further incidents of graffiti vandalism, creating a downward spiral. There are also implications for the graffiti writers themselves, with trespass onto rail lines having led to deaths among taggers. Three men died in London while tagging at night in July 2018 and three teenagers were killed in 2015 while tagging in Águas-Santas, Portugal.

It is hoped that PRISTINE’s anti-graffiti solution will not only reduce the cost of clean-up, but also deter further vandalism and thereby prevent more deaths.

Potential Savings and Benefits of the PRISTINE Project

The development of a novel functionalised silica nanoparticle coating for anti-graffiti use would have a far-reaching impact across a range of industry sectors, including rail, construction and automotive.

Reducing the time and effort required for cleaning could reduce the rail delays caused by removal teams, while also saving millions in the cost to governments in graffiti removal. The new coating solution would also provide environmental benefits by reducing the requirement for harsh cleaning chemicals as well as lowering incidents of trespass onto rail lines by graffiti artists, due to their canvasses being less attractive, in turn preventing fatal accidents.

The PRISTINE project’s poly transparent polyurethane primer/sealant should provide long-life (30+ years) non-stick/fast release/non-wetting properties for water/oil-based graffiti. This product is designed to work on metal and masonry, offering a 50% improvement on surface energy compared to current solutions, higher abrasion resistance (<71.3mg/1000 cycles compared to 120+mg/1000cycles), and continued protection even after repeated cleans. The product will also be in a clear colour that is invisible upon curing and UV resistant to prevent discolouration. In addition, the product will resist deterioration from the freeze/thaw cycle, provide a low-sliding angle (greater than 10 degrees) and a flash-point of over 96◦C.

PRISTINE is forecasted to reduce graffiti removal costs by 85% due to the minimal need for reapplication and maintenance. If realised, this saving would equate to costs of £150m/year to the UK economy rather than £1bn; freeing up £850,000,000 per year for local councils and the central government to spend on other matters such as housing, education, welfare, etc. Savings for Network Rail are estimated at £4.25 million per year without taking account of further cost savings related to downtime-costs from cleaning. PRISTINE is also expected to create 534 jobs within its UK supply chain.

Aside from the anti-graffiti applications the PRISITINE technology offers anti-stain, anti-scratch, fire resistance, corrosion resistance and barrier properties which could find applications outside of anti-graffiti use.

The “Super durable paint-repellent coating for long life anti-graffiti protection” Project (PRISTINE) has received funding from Innovate UK Smart grants programme (Feb2019) – project number 34741