Adhesives play a critical role as an enabler and a must-have technology that makes the world, as we know it, work. They also help to lay the foundation of a new era of industrial design and manufacturing under resource constraints. Due to its innovation, versatility, and flexibility – not only in selecting technologies and raw materials – the industry now has many options that contribute positively to the way products are conceived and manufactured, reused, or recycled.

We are seeing a rise for greener products, as regulations around the handling of chemicals have become tighter and with governments setting up strict laws, like the single-use plastic ban. Natural-based articles are in high demand, and it’s a trend set to continue apace globally.

Solutions that support strong urbanization, smart cities, and the Internet of Things (IoT) also are in demand as they are part of many home appliances or vehicles that are being used today.

The green and sustainable segment of the market is projected to grow rapidly across the world, and we have seen a range of new, innovative sustainable solutions appearing in the marketplace in the past few years.

Sustainability is a megatrend that continues to gain steam, and manufacturers will only be successful if they manage to be adaptable and start embedding sustainability into everything they do and with everyone they work. Good environmental performance and business value can and should coexist in a competitive market. Companies that are already transforming their operating models and thoughtfully considering environmental impact as a pivotal force, will help drive their results in the best customers, suppliers, and people wanting to work with them.

While the world’s growing population and increasing living standards boost the need for adhesives, public consciousness and overall climate action concerns encourage the development for greener, sustainable adhesives and sealants that make next-gen consumer and durable goods stronger, faster, lighter, safer, greener, and far better.

Therefore, the need for such adhesives has reached a completely new level. The most substantial contributions adhesive producers make in the realm of sustainability are through product innovation, reducing the environmental impact of production processes, and improving the sustainable performance of manufactured products through their formulations.

H.B. Fuller is also looking for alternative raw materials with less footprint and disposing materials without harming the planet in mind. For e.g. current products help customers reduce materials, reuse and allow recycling of corrugated boxes with little impact.

And while our company is supporting the future of electric transportation and providing high-performing applications for everything from vehicle assembly, interior and exterior lighting, and interior trim, a key element of an electric vehicle is battery performance and safety. Our team of chemists has formulated a flame-retardant and low-density polyurethane foam to provide thermal insulation to electric vehicles battery cells and stabilize the temperature inside the battery pack.

We believe the focus right now is for the industry to create smart materials and systems that significantly reduce costs, improve efficiency, and make products more sustainable by helping manufacturers do more with less.

That way, innovation must be at the centre of everything we do and a key driver of growth with the goal to improve operations, product applications, and finished goods. By focusing on this priority, our company continuously adds new technologies that help solve customers’ bonding challenges, with the ever-increasing demand for environmental-friendly solutions that help packaging manufacturers reduce downstream waste, building and construction experts increase energy efficiency, and disposable goods designers create eco-conscious consumer products.

From increasing transparency to bio[1]based, biodegradable or compostable claims on the articles to widening country plans for recycling products, there are a number of sustainability-driven options for the adhesives industry.

The term bio-based adhesives generally refer to systems that contain certain percentages of raw materials from renewable resources. For instance, water-based adhesives, the first bio-based formulations we saw in the market, were conceived for generic applications, bringing advantages to segments like packaging, furniture and textile.

However, with the fast technology advances, these adhesive solutions started being developed for other industries. Currently, the packaging industry is one that benefits the most from this type of formulation, but bio-based adhesives are no longer limited to water-based dispersions and emulsions – we also can find them in hot melt and pressure sensitive adhesive solutions.

When bio-based adhesives are optimized with raw materials that can be composted under specific conditions, they can be classified as biodegradable or compostable. These two terms are often used as synonyms, nonetheless, they are not exactly the same. In fact, the main difference is that biodegradable products break down naturally and return to nature whereas compostable requires specific settings to break down and provides earth with nutrients once the material has completely broken down. While all compostable material is biodegradable, not all biodegradable material is compostable.

Based on these approaches, we can certainly say adhesives are a key enabler for producing more sustainable products, and whether they are bio-based, compostable, or recyclable and repulpable, adhesives are likely to grow in popularity in near future since they support the global greener eco[1]systems. Also, not everything that is recyclable is, at the same time, compostable. So, it’s quite important to understand the right adhesive requirement for the right application in each market. And here, scientists and regulatory experts play an important role as they need to be at the forefront of keeping track of the dynamic regulations that govern the transitioning into eco-friendlier substrates.

As mentioned, more and more, consumers are demanding that product manufacturers reduce their environmental footprint and use fewer hazardous chemicals and substances of very high concern (SVHCs) and contribute to biodegradability and the use of renewable materials. When thinking about next generation adhesive solutions, the goal is that adhesive makers will need to understand the full lifecycle - recyclability, bonding and debonding on demand and, at the end of every product life, use of renewable or bio-based raw materials, and alternative cure processes. High expectation is that materials need to be responsibly sourced, enhance energy efficiency, and enable recycling to create an efficient cradle to cradle loop and facilitate responsible innovation.

This is both an exciting and challenging period for our industry. Collaboration throughout the supply chain is vital if we are to achieve changes that improve the world for this generation of consumers and beyond. Being more sustainable can mean different things to different people. It could be easy to recycle or have a low carbon footprint or designed using circular economy principles. But most likely, it will be a combination of all these, in addition to complying with current and possible future regulations.

The environmental challenges facing the world and the subsequent demand for low environ[1]mental impact products needs a multi-faceted and collaborative approach.